Creating Excitement at Glenrose

Robotics in rehabilitation medicine is both a promising area of research and an opportunity to improve the life of Canadians with disabilities. The Courage Center at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital in Edmonton is a new facility where rehabilitation therapy and new technologies, including robotics, are used together to improve therapy outcomes for patients and their family. Our project is a collaboration between the Glenrose and the Department of Computing Science at the University of Alberta.  We have installed an autonomous and mobile robot whose behavior engages and entertains people visiting the Courage center.   The project’s next step is to deploy richer forms of interactive and adaptive behavior.  This robot will help investigating the medical, technological, and social challenges in robot rehabilitation therapy. This project is also supported by AICML, an organization of the Department of Computing Science, which provides intellectual support and the infrastructure to translate research in machine learning for health care into commercial realities.