Hybrid Workshop on Human-Device Symbiosis: State of the Art and Future Directions

Our workshop is planned for an in-person format (all sessions will be live-streamed) while following the IAS 2023 guidelines.

Workshop general overview

Wearable devices have progressed significantly in the integration with humans, particularly in rehabilitation and augmentation. This requires an interdisciplinary approach and integration of knowledge from fields such as robotics, human-factors, soft electronics, biomechanics, and neuroscience. The workplace is a promising area for device integration, but personalizing wearable robot control parameters is a challenge. A potential solution is a personalized lower-limb wearable robot that senses a user’s physical effort using soft-wearable electronics. Another example is the use of wearable sensors to improve AR devices. To address these challenges and opportunities, a workshop has been planned to bring together researchers from diverse disciplines related to human-device symbiosis. The workshop aims to present the state of the art, identify open problems, and foster collaboration through invited talks, poster presentations, and panel discussions. Emphasis will be placed on encouraging participation from students and researchers from underrepresented groups.

Workshop Structure

Our full-day, hybrid (in-person and online mode) workshop will involve seminar talks, panel discussions, and a poster session, with ample coffee and networking breaks. All sessions will be live-streamed via video call to enable access for participants joining the conference remotely (except for the poster session). Below is the detailed information about each session. We’ve structured the proposed sessions to be specifically oriented to include both junior and senior researchers/engineers to organically engage and network amongst each other.

Workshop shedule (tentative)

Date & Time: Thursday 6 July, 8:30 am – 11:30 am

8:30-8:40 am – Welcome and Workshop Overview
8:40-9:10 am – Talk by Dr. Major
9:10-9:35 am – Talk by Dr. Yeo
9:35-9:50 am – Talk by Dr. Tiwari
9:50-10:00 am – Abstract Talk
10:00-10:10 am – Short Break
10:10-10:25 am – Talk by Dr. Guik Lee
10:25-10:45 am – Talk by Dr. Jeong
10:45-11:05 am – Talk by Dr. Hosu Lee
11:05-11:25 am – Talk by Dr. Kim
11:25-11:30 am – Closing remark, discussion

Virtual workshop zoom link


Zoom Link: https://iso.zoom.us/j/97082906963?pwd=VzQ4d0k3UXErck9BVGNZTEFQWVdUUT09
Meeting ID: 970 8290 6963
Password: 373244

Invited Seminar Speakers

Mapping ankle-foot stiffness to socket comfort and pressure using a robotic emulator platform to personalize prosthesis function via human-in-the-loop optimization

Dr. Matthew J. Major
Associate Professor
Northwestern University

Dr. Matthew J Major, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern University and a Research Health Scientist at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center in Chicago Illinois. He is a faculty member of the Northwestern University Prosthetics-Orthotics Center (NUPOC) where he instructs for the Master’s in Prosthetics and Orthotics clinical education program and directs the NUPOC Prosthetics and Orthotics Rehabilitation Technology Assessment Laboratory (PORTAL). Dr. Major’s research focuses on the design and optimization of rehabilitation interventions to enhance mobility of individuals with musculoskeletal and neurological pathology. His research applies engineering principles, advanced statistical modelling, and data-driven techniques to study human movement and postural control of different clinical groups, and is primarily funded through the US Department of Veterans Affairs and US Department of Defense. He serves on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Prosthetics & Orthotics, the Research Committee of the Orthotic and Prosthetic Education and Research Foundation, the Scientific Committee of the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics, and is an Associate Editor of the ASME Journal of Biomechanical Engineering.

 ​​Enhancing Human-Robot Synergy with Data-Driven Techniques for Customizing Wearable Robots to Individual Users 

The drive to discover effective strategies for human movement assistance has led to investigations into human-wearable robots. My work strives to advance this field by concentrating on wearable robots that adapt to individual users, enabling a smart assistance strategy tailored to human wearers. In this presentation, I will discuss a robot adaptation method for user-centricity, human-in-the-loop (HIL) optimization, and a user coaching technique designed to prevent unfavorable movements. Utilizing a machine learning approach with biofeedback, the HIL optimization substantially reduces walking and squatting efforts for users wearing various wearable robots. Additionally, my research investigates how users can adjust their movement patterns to optimize the advantages of personalized robots. The talk will conclude with an exploration of the challenges and opportunities posed by the HIL assistance controller in promoting positive user movements.

Dr. Myunghee Kim
Assistant Professor
University of Illinois at Chicago

Dr. Myunghee Kim joined as an assistant professor at UIC Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering. She received her Ph.D. degree from Carnegie Mellon University and held a post-doctoral appointment at Harvard University. She was a control engineer in humanoid robotics at Samsung. Dr. Kim’s primary focus is the development of assistive robotic devices for improving mobility and quality of life through integrative approaches of numerical dynamic models, machine learning techniques, experimental testbeds, and controlled human-subject experiments. At present, she works on developing assistance methods to enhance balance and walking economy using wearable devices (e.g., exoskeletons and prostheses). As a part of this effort, she is also interested in using those devices to understand further an impaired gait and advance training methods of motor function. In line with this research, Dr. Kim also explores the control of autonomous devices (e.g., legged robots).

 ​Soft Biosensing Glove for Measuring Virtual Object Parameters in Mixed Reality Environments 

This talk introduces a new bioelectronic system integrating mixed-reality (MR) environments through a soft biosensing glove. This innovative system uses nanomanufacturing techniques to incorporate flexible sensors, wireless circuits, and stretchable interconnectors into the wearable glove. The glove includes an integrated capacitive pressure sensor at the fingertips, allowing it to accurately measure physical interactions with virtual objects. This technology can measure various virtual object parameters, including mass, movement latency, dynamic friction coefficient, angular drag coefficient, and linear drag coefficient. Experimental results with human subjects have shown a positive correlation between pinching force and dynamic friction coefficient, and mass physics parameters, indicating that this wearable biosensing glove system has the potential to transform the way we interact with and design MR environments. This makes it a powerful tool for rehabilitation applications and MR human-machine interfaces.

Dr. Heejin Jeong
Assistant Professor
Arizona State University

Heejin Jeong is an Assistant Professor at the Polytechnic School, the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, Arizona State University. He is also a Biomedical Engineering Graduate Faculty in the School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering. His focuses include extended reality systems for enhancing occupational safety, healthcare rehabilitation training, and human-robot collaboration in Industry 4.0 manufacturing systems. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 2018.

 Soft Nanomembrane Wearable Sensors and Electronics for Pediatric Healthcare

In this talk, Dr. Yeo will share the basic scientific study of integrated soft sensors and electronics in both wearable and implantable configurations. He will talk about the limitations of the existing biomedical systems used in continuous health monitoring and disease diagnosis. A set of new solutions that can tackle these issues will be shared with the details. Specifically, he will discuss unique strategies for designing and fabricating new systems using soft and hybrid materials. In terms of recent outcomes, he will introduce a few projects that develop soft electronic sensors and platforms targeting sleep disorders, pediatric electrolyte monitoring, and eye movement-based human-machine interfaces. In vitro and in vivo study examples will capture the novelty of these soft electronic systems and their major advantages over the existing systems in real-time continuous health monitoring, portable healthcare, quantitative disease diagnosis, and connected therapeutics with human-machine interfaces.

Dr. W. Hong  Yeo
Associate Professor
Georgia Tech.

Dr. Yeo is a Woodruff Faculty Fellow, Associate Professor in the Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, and the Director of the Center for Human-Centric Interfaces and Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology. His research focuses on the areas of nano-/microengineering, advanced soft materials, molecular interactions, and bio-electromechanical systems, with an emphasis on stretchable hybrid electronics. Dr. Yeo received his PhD in mechanical engineering at the University of Washington, Seattle in 2011. From 2011-2013, he worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Yeo has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles, including many in top-quality journals, including Nature Machine Intelligence, Nature Materials, Nature Communications, and Science Advances. Dr. Yeo is an IEEE Senior Member and a recipient of a number of awards, including the IEEE Outstanding Engineer Award, Imlay Innovation Award, Lucy G. Moses Lectureship Award - Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Sensors Young Investigator Award, American Heart Association Innovative Project Award, and Outstanding Yonsei Scholar Award.

Recently, there has been a surge of interest in wearable robotic systems as a viable solution for restoring diminished or lost human physical capabilities. These wearable robotic devices are characterized by integrating diverse, pre-existing robotic technologies focusing on human-centric applications. Consequently, many research endeavors are being undertaken, grounded in human movement and biomechanics principles. Human biomechanics plays a pivotal role in various aspects of wearable robotic systems, encompassing conceptual sketches, performance optimization, design engineering, analysis of assistive effects, and empirical validation. In this presentation, the speaker will expound upon many research projects they have spearheaded within this domain while also elucidating the salient aspects of human biomechanics employed in studying wearable robotic systems.

Dr. Guik Lee
Associate Professor
Chung-Ang University

Giuk Lee received his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea, in 2010 and 2014, respectively. From 2014 to 2016, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Advanced Machinery and Design, Seoul National University, and the Center for Robotics Research, Korea Institute of Science and Technology. From 2016 to 2017, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Biodesign Laboratory, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA. He joined Chung-Ang University, Seoul, South Korea, as a faculty member in 2018 and is currently an associate professor. He also serves as the CEO of HUROTICS Inc., which develops custom robot suits and provides related services.

Workshop organizers

Dr. Myunghee Kim
Assistant Professor
University of Illinois at Chicago

Dr. Ashutosh Tiwari
Postdoctoral Research Associate
University of Illinois at 
Chicago