Five research teams led by faculty from York University and Queen’s University have been awarded a total of $7.5 million through the inaugural round of Connected Minds Team Grants. These ambitious, interdisciplinary projects mark a major step forward in advancing new models of technological innovation, ones that are inclusive, collaborative, and deeply attuned to societal priorities.
From ethical AI to digital equity, community health, and cultural preservation, each team is pushing the boundaries of what’s possible when diverse perspectives come together to rethink how technology is developed and deployed. Working in partnership with community organizations and industry, these researchers are not only tackling real-world challenges, they are also reshaping the frameworks through which solutions are imagined and realized.
Funded by the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF), these projects signal a powerful beginning for Connected Minds’ long-term research agenda. They lay the groundwork for transformative work that bridges disciplines, sectors, and lived experience, redefining how we engage with intelligent systems in pursuit of a more equitable and connected future.
Below, we highlight each of the five projects and the novel insights they bring to the development of ethical and inclusive technologies.
When People Talk, Listen Completely
The Challenge: Canadians with speech impairments face significant barriers to employment, often due to stigma and a lack of accessible workplace supports.
The Project: Led by Claire Davies (Queen’s University) and co-led by Shital Desai (York University), this team is developing AI-driven communication technologies, educational tools, and workplace strategies to improve employment access for Canadians with speech impairments. Grounded in the Accessible Canada Act and shaped through co-creation with individuals with lived experience, clinicians, and employers, this project addresses systemic stigma and structural barriers in workplace settings. The team is advancing four interconnected research streams: AI-powered assistive technologies, inclusive workplace design, employer education, and long-term strategies for equity in employment. Through the integration of clinical insight, engineering innovation, and social research, the project offers a powerful model for building accessible and equitable work environments, and reflects Connected Minds’ commitment to socially responsible, impact-driven research.
The Impact: By improving employment access and acceptance for persons with speech impairments, this project sets a new direction for how technology can be harnessed to create more equitable employment systems, where all voices are not only heard but valued.
Creative Collectivities: Rehearsing Equitable Futures through Participatory Technologies
The Challenge: Traditional social and digital spaces often exclude marginalized voices, limiting opportunities for connection and collective action.
The Project: Led by Laura Levin (York University) and Michael Wheeler (Queen’s University), this team explores how AI, virtual reality, and immersive theatre can reshape social connection and collective behaviour. Collaborating with equity-focused theatre companies and community groups representing Indigenous, 2SLGBTQIA+, racialized, and disabled communities, they co-create experimental platforms that center diverse voices and expand access to cultural participation. Using theatre as a space to examine the social impacts of participatory technologies, the project examines how digital tools shape group dynamics and explores alternatives that promote inclusion, dialogue, and shared understanding. The team combines neuroscience, technology, and the arts to design and refine tools that counteract social isolation, polarization, and loneliness - challenges that are intensified by the AI era and the pandemic.
The Impact: Through critical collaboration and mentorship of diverse students and early-career researchers, this project fosters more equitable approaches to digital engagement, helping to build environments where inclusion, connection, and democratic participation can thrive.
Wearable EEG for Personalized Epilepsy Management
The Challenge: Current epilepsy monitoring tools can be uncomfortable, inaccessible, and limited in supporting real-time care at home.
The Project: Led by Hossein Kassiri (York University) and Gavin Winston (Queen’s University), this team is developing a smart, wearable electroencephalogram (EEG) device designed for clinical accuracy, long-term comfort, and ethical use in everyday environments. Unlike traditional hospital-based EEGs, this custom-fitted cap will allow patients, beginning with those with epilepsy, to monitor brain activity at home without compromising data quality. The device integrates AI-powered chips to detect abnormalities and forecast seizures in real time, while accounting for diverse anatomical and hair-type differences. Through co-creation workshops with people with epilepsy and caregivers, the team ensures the technology meets real-world needs. Grounded in engineering, medicine, ethics, and social science, this project embodies Connected Minds’ commitment to responsible, patient-centered innovation.
The Impact: By integrating AI with co-created design, this project advances personalized epilepsy management at home, enhancing quality of life and shaping the future of inclusive, patient-driven health technologies.
The Biskaabiiyaang Indigenous Metaverse: Ethical Virtual Environments Rooted in Indigenous Knowledge
The Challenge: Indigenous communities face ongoing barriers to cultural preservation and digital sovereignty in spaces often shaped by colonial frameworks.
The Project: Led by Maya Chacaby and Rebecca Caines (York University), this project blends Anishinaabe knowledge with immersive technology to create Biskaabiiyaang, an Indigenous-governed Virtual Learning Environment designed to support language revitalization, cultural resurgence, and healing. Co-created with Indigenous communities and guided by OCAP (Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession) principles, Biskaabiiyaang invites users into a multiplayer metaverse rooted in Anishinaabe teachings. Through interactive quests and digital storytelling, participants engage with culture in new ways that strengthen identity, foster well-being, and advance ethical innovation in AI and virtual platforms. Integrating neuroscience, intelligent technologies, and Indigenous governance, the project explores how culturally grounded virtual experiences shape memory, social connection, and cognition, laying the foundation for Indigenous-led innovation and more inclusive digital futures.
The Impact: This project charts a path for ethical innovation that advances Indigenous cultural resurgence, strengthens digital sovereignty, and reshapes how technology serves diverse knowledge systems.
Co-creating Intelligent Neuro-Technologies for Healthy Aging (CINTHeA)
The Challenge: Older adults often face challenges related to mobility, cognitive health, and social isolation, and existing technologies don’t always address their lived realities.
The Project: Led by James Elder (York University) and Vincent DePaul (Queen’s University), CINTHeA collaborates with older adults, caregivers, and families to support healthy aging. The team is developing AI-powered systems, such as lab-grade mobile assessments and socially assistive robots, to monitor cognitive, physical, and social well-being while promoting independence and connection. Through a continuous co-creation process, the team designs tools that address mobility, cognitive function, and social engagement, integrating neuroscience, engineering, social science, and elder care. By identifying and detecting health-related neuromarkers in real-world settings, CINTHeA advances a new model for personalized, responsive, and ethical health technologies that adapt to the needs of aging populations.
The Impact: This project fosters dignified, autonomous aging by advancing innovative technologies that transform elder care and enhance quality of life for older adults.
The Team Grants program catalyzes interdisciplinary research that transcends traditional boundaries, bringing together expertise from engineering, neuroscience, community engagement, and the arts. By supporting these five groundbreaking projects, Connected Minds exemplifies how collaborative innovation can develop technologies that are not only advanced but also deeply aligned with principles of justice, equity, and social responsibility.
Through this funding, Connected Minds strengthens connections across academia, industry, government, and communities, laying the foundation for technologies that foster a more inclusive, compassionate, and equitable future. We encourage you to follow the progress of these transformative projects as they continue to push the boundaries of knowledge and create meaningful impact. Together, Connected Minds is redefining how research drives real-world change.