Communications of the ACM
Replacing Lost Abilities With a Robot
This robot holding an electric shaver is giving a quadriplegic man new abilities.
Photo courtesy of Willow Garage
Researchers at Georgia Tech and Willow Garage have developed a special user interface that enables a mute and partially paralyzed stroke victim to control a robot, called PR2, that can perform daily tasks such as scratching an itch and shaving.
"We're showing how robots could give back independence to people in that situation," says Willow Garage CEO Steve Cousins.
Despite recent advances in human-robot interaction, however, the user still must be accompanied by a team of engineers that can intervene if something goes wrong. Programming the robot so that it is safe enough to be left alone with a vulnerable user will require it to respond to commands more intelligently and to deal with unexpected problems.
Some of these advances are already in development. For example, Willow Garage and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute researchers have created software that enables the PR2 robot to determine how best to grasp an object by itself.
Willow Garage's hardware shows the potential of robots as helpers for disabled people, says University of South Florida professor Rajiv Dubey, who is developing a robotic arm that attaches to a wheelchair and could enable completely paralyzed people to operate robotic controls through a brain-computer interface.
From Technology Review
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