TAYLOR’S University has officially launched its new lab facility, Taylor’s Centre for Human Excellence and Development (CHED), a first-of-its-kind research and therapy centre in Malaysia and Southeast Asia. The centre, which operates under Taylor’s School of Liberal Arts and Sciences (SLAS), intends to revolutionise study and applied research in psychology and behavioural sciences in Malaysia to augment positive social progress in the country.
CHED was officiated by the Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali. “The establishment of the Taylor’s University Centre for Human Excellence and Development is an excellent step in the right direction to address rising mental health concerns in Malaysia.
“I hope to see a proliferation of research in behavioural science, psychology and other aspects of social sciences with the commencement of this centre,” he commented during the virtual launch ceremony recently.
The launch of CHED enables academics and researchers to embark on advanced studies in behavioural sciences across disciplines including psychology, food studies, education, business and social sciences. As such, the Centre integrates research through the Socio-Behavioral Lab with community welfare and mental health through the Clinical Centre.
The Socio-Behavioral Lab aims to provide a multi-functional space to advance the research, innovations and interventions in multi-disciplinary areas of physical, cognitive, emotional and social contexts of behaviour. It is a platform that allows for a flexible space to be adapted to various functions and allow for research and interventions to be carried out in an innovative setting.
It leverages on an extensive range of advance Artificial Intelligent technology components such as face-tracking cameras, brain scanners and virtual reality equipment that tracks facial and eye movements to identify emotions in facial features. The emotional recognition software is proprietary to Taylor’s University and will enable its students, researchers and psychologists to conduct live research on human interactions.
The Clinical Centre is a therapeutic space and includes four individual therapy rooms, a family room and a group therapy centre. It is tailored predominantly as a training and skill development centre for students of the Master and Undergraduate programmes who seek to develop therapeutic skills.
It is equipped with a comprehensive developmental assessment and mental health testing tools to support therapeutic interventions by clinical and counselling practitioners.
