ERF 2017 Workshops on “Haptics in Healthcare”

Three workshops will be held at the European Robotics Forum 2017, Edinburgh, UK, 22 March 2017

The workshop programme is now available.

The event is supported by

The field of haptics has made inroads into a number of application areas: This workshop aims to bring together experts active in the field of haptic interfaces for healthcare systems. We will explore the synergies that will arise from bringing together medical-driven applications and emerging haptic solutions and identify the advantages that these technologies bring to healthcare.
The ERF 2017 workshop will provide a review of current technology using Virtual Reality, different types of feedback modalities and haptic interfaces applied in the healthcare domain. This will help exploring the emergence of haptic interfaces and identifying the benefits associated with its application in medical related areas. The workshop will explore the challenges that lie ahead with focus on improving outcomes of medical therapies and also with focus on user training.
Round table discussions will focus on obstacles and challenges and the future direction. Results might feed into the Multi-Annual Roadmap (MAR) and Strategic Research Agenda (SRA).

We are organising three workshops on:

WS1: Haptics in practice: How healthcare can benefit!

08:30 am: Welcome and introduction
08:40 am: Ayse Kucukyilmaz, Yeditepe University – Haptic Shared Control for Learning Assistance Policies by Demonstration on Powered Wheelchairs
08:50 am: Anuradha Ranasinghe, Liverpool Hope University – Validating a novel robotic-assisted guiding control policy
09:00 am: Ildar Farkhatdinov, Queen Mary University of London – Wearable exoskeleton for balance assistance
09:10 am: Group discussions on new healthcare applications for haptics
09:30 am: Group presentations and discussions
10:00 am: End of WS1

WS2: Pushing the boundaries of haptic research for Health: Current challenges

02:00 pm: Welcome and introduction
02:10 pm: Peter Culmer, University of Leeds – High-Performance Soft Tactile Sensors using Flexible Coils And Applications of Haptics for Incontinence
02:20 pm: Thrishantha Nanayakkara, Imperial College London – Morphological computation of perception and action during physical examination of soft tissue
02:30 pm: Emanuele Lindo Secco, Liverpool Hope University – Wearable Haptics for VR Stiffness Discrimination
02:40 pm: Group discussions on haptic challenges
03:00 pm: Group presentations and discussions
03:30 pm: End of WS2

WS3: Successful translation of haptic technology for Healthcare: Towards increasing TRLs

04:15 pm: Welcome and introduction
04:25 pm: Fernando Bello, Imperial College London – Haptics for Medical and Surgical Simulation
04:35 pm: Ildar Farkhatdinov, Queen Mary University of London – Wearable haptics for deaf-blind horse-riding therapy
04:45 pm: Peter Culmer, University of Leeds – Accelerating skill acquisition through haptics in dentistry and surgery
04:55 pm: Alastair Barrow, Generic Robotics – Consumer haptics in healthcare
05:05 pm: Group discussions on how to accelerate TRL levels
05:30 pm: Group presentations
05:45 pm: End of WS3

Call for contributions

We invite submission in the format of a one A4-page page in PDF format. Please send the document to h.wurdemann@ucl.ac.uk by 26 February indicating your preferred WS.

Submissions will be accepted as a 10 min presentation.

Important Dates: