Robots – What Will They Do Next?

Location: Putteridge Bury Conference Centre

Time: 18.00 - 18.30 registration and coffee

Cost: (including VAT) and includes wine, finger buffet and networking

Speakers: Professor Carsten Maple, Dr Dayou Li

Robots - what will they do next? Provide care for the elderly!

That's the aim of ground-breaking research in the area of robotics currently being carried out at the University of Bedfordshire. On the strength of its formidable record of developing novel applications of computer technology to solve real-world problems, the Institute for Research in Applicable Computing has won a significant grant to undertake research to develop technology that will enable robots to provide care for the old and infirm.

One of the greatest challenges facing our society in the future is how we are going to provide adequate care for our elderly. The population is growing. People are living longer. Medical knowledge and healthcare is improving. But this brings a host of other problems. Dementia and mental illness are increasing rapidly. More elderly people are living on their own without satisfactory means of support. Already healthcare provision is stretched to the limit. And families and friends are often putting their lives on hold to look after their loved ones.

New solutions are needed.

At this event Carsten Maple and Dayou Li, part of the 'internationally excellent' the team of experts that researches into Computer Science, will present some of the key proposals of its research. They will demonstrate how through the application of advanced computer technology and artificial intelligence, robots can be utilised to make a significant contribution to one of the most urgent and serious real-life problems of our times. They will also deal with some of the human concerns about technology, such as how to help the elderly overcome their distrust of robots and technology. And they will show how robots can communicate with each other and humans in a multi-robotic environment.

This is the final event of the Knowledge Network programme of 2010 and a fitting example of how research at the University of Bedfordshire really can contribute to 'Changing Lives'.