Cognitive assisted living ambient system: a survey

The demographic change towards an aging population is creating a significant impact and introducing drastic challenges to our society. We therefore need to find ways to assist older people to stay independently and prevent social isolation of these population. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) provide various solutions to help older adults to improve their quality of life, stay healthier, and live independently for a time. Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) is a field to investigate innovative technologies to provide assistance as well as healthcare and rehabilitation to impaired seniors. The paper provides a review of research background and technologies of AAL

An approach of multi‐agent control of bio‐robots using intelligent recognition diagnosis of persons with moving disabilities

The aims of this research are focused on the construction of intellectualized equipments for people with moving disabilities to help them in sustainable integration into environment. The problem is to reveal main components of diagnosis of disabled persons, as well as to develop decision making models which are integrated into the control mechanisms of the special equipments, that are assigned to the class of bio‐robots. This paper analyses the approach of the construction of such type of bio‐robots with possibilities to integrate different knowledge representation techniques for the development of the reinforcement framework with multiple cooperative agents for the recognition of the diagnosis of emotional situation of disabled persons. Large‐scale of multidimensional recognitions of emotional diagnosis of disabled persons often generate a large amount of multi‐dimensional data with complex recognition mechanisms, based on the integration of different knowledge representation techniques and complex inference models. Sensors can easily record primary data; however, the recognition of abnormal situations, cauterisation of emotional stages and resolution for certain type of diagnosis is an oncoming issue for bio‐robot constructors. The research results present the development of multi‐layered model of this framework with the integration of the evaluation of fuzzy neural control of speed of two wheelchair type robots working in real time by providing moving support for disabled individuals. An approach for representation of reasoning processes, using fuzzy logical Petri nets for evaluation of physiological state of individuals is presented. The reasoning is based on recognition of emotions of persons during their activities. Santrauka Šio mokslinio tyrimo tikslai yra nukreipti į intektualizuotų įrenginių, skirtų žmonėms su judėjimo negalia ir užtikrinančių jų būklės stebėseną ir darnaus judėjimo valdymo aplinkoje galimybes, kūrimą. Sprendžiami uždaviniai skirti neįgaliųjų diagnozės pagrindinių komponenčių tyrimams, sudarant lanksčius sprendimų priėmimo modelius, integruojamus į specialių įrenginių valdymo mechanizmus, kurie priskiriami biorobotų klasei. Straipsnyje pateikiami metodai, kaip konstruoti tokio tipo biorobotų sistemas, leidžiant skirtingų žinių vaizdavimo priemones integruoti į sistemą, kad būtų sukurta daugelio agentų bendradarbiavimo aplinka, skirta neįgaliųjų emocinės būklės diagnuozei analizuoti. Neįgaliųjų diagnozės procesams formalizuoti reikia kelių metodų, kurie grindžiami skirtingais žinių vaizdavimo formalizmais, skirtingų matų parametrų atpažinimo algoritmais. Sensorinės sistemos fiksuoja pirminius stebėsenos duomenis, tačiau nenormalioms situacijos būklėms atpažinti reikia sudėtingų išvedimo metodų, taikant lanksčias neuroninių tinklų valdymo priemones. Tyrimo rezultatai pateikiami per daugelio lygmenų darbo infrastruktūrą, kuri integruoja miglota logika grindžiamų neuroninių tinklų valdymo būdus, taikant juos neįgaliojo vežimėlio valdymo konstrukcijoms, kurios leidžia valdyti vežimėlio judėjimą automatiškai valdoma trajektorija. Miglota logika grindžiamų Petri tinklų taikymas leido pademonstruoti galimybes atpažinti neįgaliojo psichologinės būsenos pokyčius ir vertinti juos laike stebint pacientus skirtingą laiką. First published online: 21 Oct 2010 Reikšminiai žodžiai: daugiaagentis sistemos valdymas, biorobotai, išskirstytosios informacinės sistemos, žinių vaizdavimo priemonės, miglota logika, neuroniniai tinklai, Petri tinklai

Artificial Intelligence: Robots, Avatars, and the Demise of the Human Mediator

Published in cooperation with the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolutio

Past, Present, and Future of EEG-Based BCI Applications

An electroencephalography (EEG)-based brain–computer interface (BCI) is a system that provides a pathway between the brain and external devices by interpreting EEG. EEG-based BCI applications have initially been developed for medical purposes, with the aim of facilitating the return of patients to normal life. In addition to the initial aim, EEG-based BCI applications have also gained increasing significance in the non-medical domain, improving the life of healthy people, for instance, by making it more efficient, collaborative and helping develop themselves. The objective of this review is to give a systematic overview of the literature on EEG-based BCI applications from the period of 2009 until 2019. The systematic literature review has been prepared based on three databases PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus. This review was conducted following the PRISMA model. In this review, 202 publications were selected based on specific eligibility criteria. The distribution of the research between the medical and non-medical domain has been analyzed and further categorized into fields of research within the reviewed domains. In this review, the equipment used for gathering EEG data and signal processing methods have also been reviewed. Additionally, current challenges in the field and possibilities for the future have been analyzed

Artificial Intelligence: Robots, Avatars, and the Demise of the Human Mediator

Published in cooperation with the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolutio

Artificial Intelligence: Robots, Avatars and the Demise of the Human Mediator

As technology has advanced, many have wondered whether (or simply when) artificial intelligent devices will replace the humans who perform complex, interactive, interpersonal tasks such as dispute resolution. Has science now progressed to the point that artificial intelligence devices can replace human mediators, arbitrators, dispute resolvers and problem solvers? Can humanoid robots, attractive avatars and other relational agents create the requisite level of trust and elicit the truthful, perhaps intimate or painful, disclosures often necessary to resolve a dispute or solve a problem? This article will explore these questions. Regardless of whether the reader is convinced that the demise of the human mediator or arbitrator is imminent, one cannot deny that artificial intelligence now has the capability to assume many of the responsibilities currently being performed by alternative dispute resolution (ADR) practitioners. It is fascinating (and perhaps unsettling) to realize the complexity and seriousness of tasks currently delegated to avatars and robots. This article will review some of those delegations and suggest how the artificial intelligence developed to complete those assignments may be relevant to dispute resolution and problem solving. “Relational Agents,” which can have a physical presence such as a robot, be embodied in an avatar, or have no detectable form whatsoever and exist only as software, are able to create long term socio-economic relationships with users built on trust, rapport and therapeutic goals. Relational agents are interacting with humans in circumstances that have significant consequences in the physical world. These interactions provide insights as to how robots and avatars can participate productively in dispute resolution processes. Can human mediators and arbitrators be replaced by robots and avatars that not only physically resemble humans, but also act, think, and reason like humans? And to raise a particularly interesting question, can robots, avatars and other relational agents look, move, act, think, and reason even “better” than humans

Robotic Platforms for Assistance to People with Disabilities

People with congenital and/or acquired disabilities constitute a great number of dependents today. Robotic platforms to help people with disabilities are being developed with the aim of providing both rehabilitation treatment and assistance to improve their quality of life. A high demand for robotic platforms that provide assistance during rehabilitation is expected because of the health status of the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has resulted in countries facing major challenges to ensure the health and autonomy of their disabled population. Robotic platforms are necessary to ensure assistance and rehabilitation for disabled people in the current global situation. The capacity of robotic platforms in this area must be continuously improved to benefit the healthcare sector in terms of chronic disease prevention, assistance, and autonomy. For this reason, research about human–robot interaction in these robotic assistance environments must grow and advance because this topic demands sensitive and intelligent robotic platforms that are equipped with complex sensory systems, high handling functionalities, safe control strategies, and intelligent computer vision algorithms. This Special Issue has published eight papers covering recent advances in the field of robotic platforms to assist disabled people in daily or clinical environments. The papers address innovative solutions in this field, including affordable assistive robotics devices, new techniques in computer vision for intelligent and safe human–robot interaction, and advances in mobile manipulators for assistive tasks

Robots and human dignity: A consideration of the effects of robot care on the dignity of older people

This paper explores the relationship between dignity and robot care for older people. It highlights the disquiet that is often expressed about failures to maintain the dignity of vulnerable older people, but points out some of the contradictory uses of the word 'dignity'. Certain authors have resolved these contradictions by identifying different senses of dignity; contrasting the inviolable dignity inherent in human life to other forms of dignity which can be present to varying degrees. The capability approach (CA) is introduced as a different but tangible account of what it means to live a life worthy of human dignity. It is used here as a framework for the assessment of the possible effects of eldercare robots on human dignity. The CA enables the identification of circumstances in which robots could enhance dignity by expanding the set of capabilities that are accessible to frail older people. At the same time, it is also possible within its framework to identify ways in which robots could have a negative impact, by impeding the access of older people to essential capabilities. It is concluded that the CA has some advantages over other accounts of dignity, but that further work and empirical study is needed in order to adapt it to the particular circumstances and concerns of those in the latter part of their lives

What do Collaborations with the Arts Have to Say About Human-Robot Interaction?

This is a collection of papers presented at the workshop What Do Collaborations with the Arts Have to Say About HRI , held at the 2010 Human-Robot Interaction Conference, in Osaka, Japan