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The deployment of robots and other assistance systems in the healthcare sector and eldercare is associated with critical technical problems, and there are acceptance issues to be addressed. This is covered in the Hightech Summit Session 3 – based on top-level expertise.

The following scientists outline the deployment of smart robots in the healthcare sector.

Prof. Dr. Sunil Agrawal, Columbia University, USA, provides an overview of this specific field of collaborative robotics. The international award-winning expert for robotics in medical rehabilitation is known for his exoskeletons that help stroke patients learn to walk again.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr. med. h.c. Robert Riener, ETH Zurich, Switzerland, conducts research in a related field. He presents an approach to human-machine interaction in rehabilitation based on exoskeletons.

Finally, Dr. Alex Mihailidis, AGE-WELL/University of Toronto, Canada, talks about the increasing adoption of AI and robotics in eldercare and provides a glimpse of the future.

This session starts with a digital opening address by Klaus Holetschek, Bavarian Minister of State for Health and Care.

Speakers and presentations in this session

“Rehabilitation Robotics and Improving Everyday Human Functions”

Neural disorders, old age, and traumatic injuries limit the ability of humans to perform activities of daily living. Robotics can be used to characterize and retrain human neuromuscular responses. Columbia University Robotics and Rehabilitation (ROAR) Laboratory designs innovative robots and performs scientific studies to improve everyday human functions such as standing, walking, stair climbing, reaching, head turning, and others. Human experiments have targeted individuals with stroke, cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s disease, ALS, and elderly subjects with various disorders. The talk will provide an overview of some of these robotic technologies and scientific studies performed with them.

Sunil K. Agrawal received a Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University in 1990. He is currently a Professor and Director of Robotics and Rehabilitation (ROAR) Laboratory at Columbia University, located both in engineering and medical campuses of the University. Dr. Agrawal has published more than 500 journal and conference papers, three books, and 18 U.S. patents. He is a Fellow of the ASME and AIMBE. His honors include a NSF Presidential Faculty Fellowship from the White House in 1994, a Bessel Prize from Germany in 2003, and a Humboldt US Senior Scientist Award in 2007. He is a recipient of 2016 Machine Design Award from ASME for “seminal contributions to design of robotic exoskeletons for gait training of stroke patients” and 2016 Mechanisms and Robotics Award from the ASME for “cumulative contributions and being an international leading figure in mechanical design and robotics”. He is a recipient of several Best Paper awards in ASME and IEEE sponsored robotics conferences. He has successfully directed 35 PhD student theses and currently supervises research of 5 PhD students in ROAR laboratory. He is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the journal “Wearable Technologies” from Cambridge University Press. He was the Conference Chair for IEEE BioRob2020 organized in New York City.

Rehabilitation Robotics and Improving Everyday Human Functions

Neural disorders, old age, and traumatic injuries limit the ability of humans to perform activities of daily living. Robotics can be used to characterize and retrain human neuromuscular responses. Columbia University Robotics and Rehabilitation (ROAR) Laboratory designs innovative robots and performs scientific studies to improve everyday human functions such as standing, walking, stair climbing, reaching, head turning, and others. Human experiments have targeted individuals with stroke, cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s disease, ALS, and elderly subjects with various disorders. The talk will provide an overview of some of these robotic technologies and scientific studies performed with them.

Hightech Summit Session 3: Quality of Life

„Rehabilitation Intelligence”

The aging of our population is increasingly challenging our healthcare system, because of the shortage of funding and personnel. Robots and AI can help solving these challenges, for example, by performing interventions more accurately and faster, by taking over tasks, which are too exhausting for the medical staff or too dangerous for the patient. Robotics and AI can also help to predict and prevent certain diseases or disease symptoms. This talk provides an overview of current and future robotic systems applied to rehabilitation.

Robert Riener is full professor for Sensory-Motor Systems at the Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, and full professor of medicine at the University Hospital Balgrist, University of Zurich. His work focuses on the investigation of the sensory-motor interactions between humans and machines and the development of user-cooperative rehabilitation robots, exoskeletons, and virtual reality technologies. Riener is the initiator and organizer of the CYBATHLON, which was awarded with the European Excellence Award, the Yahoo Sports Technology Award and with two categories of the REIMAGINE Education Award. Riener has published more than 500 peer-reviewed journal and conference articles, 36 books and book chapters and he filed 26 patents. He has received 26 personal distinctions and awards. In 2018 Riener obtained the honorary doctoral degree from the University of Basel.

Rehabilitation Intelligence

The aging of our population is increasingly challenging our healthcare system, because of the shortage of funding and personnel. Robots and AI can help solving these challenges, for example, by performing interventions more accurately and faster, by taking over tasks, which are too exhausting for the medical staff or too dangerous for the patient. Robotics and AI can also help to predict and prevent certain diseases or disease symptoms. This talk provides an overview of current and future robotic systems applied to rehabilitation.

Hightech Summit Session 3: Quality of Life

“The role of AI in Eldercare: Examples, Lessons, and the Future”

The field of AgeTech has been emerging for the past several decades, with the development of new technologies and approaches that can support older adults. These technologies range from simple devices and apps to more complex systems like smart homes and robotics. A key aspect in developing this field has been the establishment of consortiums and networks, like the AGE-WELL Network of Centres of Excellence in Canada. This presentation will discuss the area of AgeTech, where the field currently sits, and more importantly where the field is going. It will also present examples of technologies that are currently being developed by the AGE-WELL network and strategies that are being established in Canada to help move AgeTech innovations to the marketplace and into the hands of those people who need these solutions—older adults and their caregivers.

Professor Mihailidis is the Associate Vice-President for International Partnerships at the University of Toronto, and the Scientific Director of the AGE-WELL Network of Centres of Excellence, which focuses on the development of new technologies and services for older adults. He is a Professor in the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy (U of T) and in Biomedical Engineering (U of T), with a cross appointment in the Department of Computer Science (U of T).

Professor Mihailidis has been conducting research in the field of technology to support older adults for the past 20 years, having published over 200 journal papers, conference papers, and abstracts in this field. Dr. Mihailidis is also very active in the rehabilitation engineering profession, currently as the Past-President for RESNA (Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America). He was also named a Fellow of RESNA in 2014, which is one of the highest honours within this field of research and practice, and a Fellow in the Canadian Academy of Health Science (CAHS) in 2021 for his contributions to the health and well-being of older Canadians.

In 2022, Dr. Mihailidis was recognized by the UN as one of the Healthy Ageing 50 – 50 leaders working to transform the world to be a better place in which to grow older.

Professor Mihailidis received a B.A.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from University of Toronto in 1996, a M.A.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering in 1998 from the University of Toronto, and a PhD in Bioengineering (Rehabilitation Engineering) in 2002 from the University of Strathclyde (Glasgow, Scotland).

The role of AI in Eldercare: Examples, Lessons, and the Future

The field of AgeTech has been emerging for the past several decades, with the development of new technologies and approaches that can support older adults. These technologies range from simple devices and apps to more complex systems like smart homes and robotics. A key aspect in developing this field has been the establishment of consortiums and networks, like the AGE-WELL Network of Centres of Excellence in Canada. This presentation will discuss the area of AgeTech, where the field currently sits, and more importantly where the field is going. It will also present examples of technologies that are currently being developed by the AGE-WELL network and strategies that are being established in Canada to help move AgeTech innovations to the marketplace and into the hands of those people who need these solutions—older adults and their caregivers.

Hightech Summit Session 3: Quality of Life

Session Chair

Quality of Life will be hosted by Session Chair Prof. Cristina Piazza, Assistant Professor at the Chair of Computer Aided Medical Procedures (TU Munich).


Technologies have the potential to assist humans and improve our quality of life. However, it is essential to design technologies with a focus on the benefits for the many, and not the few. Question of social justice and equity need to move to the center of technology development, particularly in fields such as AI and robotics. To this end, we must foster interdisciplinary collaborations between the social sciences and AI research and address social, ethical and political questions in an integrated way already during technology development.