Imagine gods robot able to interpret the environment that surrounds them and above all to read the emotions and reactions of human beings, consequently performing the most appropriate tasks for the situation. You would imagine something like the cognitive robotics for neurorehabilitation which is at the heart of the new collaboration between the neurorehabilitation hospital Santa Lucia Foundationthe first Italian Irccs for neuroscience research, e Oversonican Italian company based in Brianza and in Trentino, at the Polo mechatronics of Trentino Svilippo, specialized precisely in the design and construction of cognitive humanoid robots for industry and healthcare. The goal is to further develop the model RoBee making it an active support to hospital neurorehabilitation, communication and cognitive assessment in care settings.
RoBee, Oversonic’s social robot at Santa Lucia in Rome for research and rehabilitation
A team of 24 experts at work
The project could open “new frontiers on human-machine interaction and on the development potential of a new generation of”social robots‘”Explains a note, and will involve a team of twelve experts for the Santa Lucia Foundation, made up of neurorehabilitation specialists, doctors and researchers, and as many engineers from Oversonic. Together they will build a path aimed at integrating RoBee into hospital operations.
The areas of application of RoBee
What will RoBee do at the Santa Lucia? The path will pass will be organized in a series of experimental phases with different research objectives. On the level of the neurorehabilitationfor example, the humanoid robot will support neuropsychologists and speech therapists in cognitive neurorehabilitation sessions for people affected by brain stroke. They will therefore be developed exercises dedicated to attention, memory, language and executive functions, the main cognitive functions that require a highly specialized hospital neurorehabilitation path following a lesion of the nervous system. The robot will therefore be one of the first examples of robotics applied specifically to the cognitive component of patients, which often involves more disabilities than motor disabilities, facilitating the return to an autonomous life as much as possible.
Innovation Almanac – January 25, 1921/1979
The invention of the term robot and the first roboticide
by Riccardo Luna
As part of the Research some will be developed in neuroscience experiments aimed at analyzing brain dynamics triggered by the interaction between humans and robots. With those data in hand, the Oversonic experts will thus be able to optimize the artificial intelligence systems installed on RoBee in its use in the neurorehabilitation field and, more generally, in relational contexts, not just health care. Finally, they will come test the functionality of RoBee in the departmentfor more generic but equally important support activities for healthcare professionals such as the detection of vital parameters, verbal interaction and reporting of any emergencies and patient assistance (management of appointments and support for patient relations with the outside world) .
Robotics as a support for speech therapists and neuropsychologists
“Through non-invasive techniques such as neuroimaging, transcranial magnetic stimulation and the analysis of brain bioelectric signals by electroencephalogram, we intend to understand the brain reactions that the interaction with a humanoid robot causes – he explained during a presentation event of the collaboration. Carlo Caltagirone, neurologist and scientific director of the Santa Lucia Irccs – this study will allow to collect information on the mechanisms of interaction with the environment and to take a further step in the field of neuroscience. Furthermore, carrying out this project within the hospital will allow us to evaluate both the interaction with patients with cognitive impairment and the ability of robotics to become a concrete support for some professionalsin particular of speech therapists and neuropsychologists who deal with cognitive neurorehabilitation “.
The case
Tesla, no new models in 2022, only robots
by Vincenzo Borgomeo
In short, the “social robots” are destined to become an integral part of our life. And, often, to improve their quality after traumatic events such as neurological diseases: “Unlike autonomous service robots, capable of carrying out a limited number of tasks without human supervision, these new systems have advanced abilities of manipulating objects and processes human-like cognitives – he said Fabio Pugliapresident of Oversonic, founded in 2020 – through ‘multi-modal interfaces’ that combine the use of language, gestures, facial expressions, RoBee is able to learn behaviors, and then move independently: it represents the future of a technology that does not replace the human being but aims to be an effective support and replacement only for the most burdensome and risky operations “.
An experimental phase was therefore needed in such an important and delicate area as the health one: “In recent months we have experimented RoBee essentially in industrial environments for largely mechanical operations – he concluded Paolo Denti, CEO of the software house – with this project a new development frontier opens, both on the product side, with the first effective implementation of RoBee in a relational context, which enhances its cognitive competence, and on the research side, thanks to the accreditation of a reality such as the Santa Lucia Foundation, the highest Italian excellence in the field of neuroscience. A precious opportunity to give this technology a progress in the direction that Oversonic pursues, that is to create machines at the service of man and the community. For us it also means embarking on a new business path, which goes beyond the traditional categories of B2B or B2C and introduces a concept that can be declined as B2S, or Business to Social”.
Market
Digital seniors are an increasingly important business
