Robots as Reliable Assistants of Humans
There are a great many disabled people worldwide who cannot fully engage with society and are poorly represented in the economy. With the growth of the earth’s population and life expectancy, these problems will only be exacerbated. Healthcare and societal institutions are actively engaged in giving disabled people back the abilities they could or used to have. But not all problems can be resolved on the level of societal or medical care. People want to communicate freely, to walk, to travel. Modern assistive robotics already allow this. In October 2016, Zurich (Switzerland) hosted Cybathlon – the first competition of its kind for people with disabilities supported by the latest assistance systems. Cybathletes competed to solve daily tasks encountered by disabled people using bionic active prosthetics (arms and legs), exoskeletons, brain-computer interfaces, enhanced mobility wheelchairs, and electric bikes. People with lower body paralysis negotiated stairs, people with arm prosthetics used various tools and cooked food, while fully paralysed people used a brain-computer interface to manage their digital avatars in the virtual environment.
Moderator
Albert Efimov,
Head of Robotics Lab, Sberbank
Panellists
Ekaterina Bereziy,
Business Development Director, Founder of ExoAthlete Company
Vladimir Konyshev,
Founder, General Director, Neurobotics
Stanislav Kuznetsov,
Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board, Sberbank
Robert Riener,
Professor for Sensory-Motor Systems at the Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich Founder of Cybathlon