Other - G. Nejat: The Next Generation of Robotic Helpers: Socially Assistive Robots for Health Care Environments

Presented by:
Goldie Nejat
Assistant Professor
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
University of Toronto

Location:
JHA
Apotex Centre
1st Floor
Loftus Community Hall

This talk will present some recent research efforts in developing advanced socially assistive robotic systems for the elderly and their integration into health monitoring networks. The ability of such robots to provide social interaction, guidance, and support, and serve as general companions to individuals will be discussed. Socially assistive robots can assist in slowing down cognitive impairment, preventing depression and improving vital signs via their social interaction capabilities. Preliminary experiments conducted during human-robot interaction scenarios with a human-like socially assistive robot will also be discussed.

This presentation is open to all staff. For questions or more information, please contact Melissa Cohen at extension 2705.

Goldie Nejat is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto. She is the Director of the Autonomous Systems and Biomechatronics Laboratory. Prior to her appointment at UofT, she was a faculty member at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. She received both her B.A.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Toronto. She has been a robotics engineer for the past nine years and has been designing and developing service/assistive robots and devices for a number of applications including those in the medical, recreational, manufacturing, surveillance and search and rescue fields. Her research group is one of only a handful of robotics groups in North America working on developing intelligent social robots for human-robot interactions. She collaborates with international health sciences experts in nursing, preventive care and gerontology, and health care facilities such as Veterans Homes. She has publications in both the natural and health sciences domains. Dr. Nejat is the recipient of grants from a number of different funding agencies including the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the National Science Foundation (U.S.) and the New York State Centers of Excellence.