Advancing Health and Wellbeing Through Robotics and Emerging Technologies

In this session, Professor Praminda Caleb-Solly will explore how assistive robotics and connected health technologies can help people stay healthier for longer and support care within communities. These technologies have the potential to encourage healthier behaviours, enable earlier intervention, and complement the work of health and care professionals.

The talk will highlight three examples from her research.

First, she will discuss the use of telepresence robots in volunteer “buddy” schemes that support people who may feel socially isolated or have limited mobility. These robots allow volunteers to connect remotely, helping people stay socially engaged and active. She will share early findings from trials with voluntary-sector partners, including lessons about user acceptance, safeguarding, and service protocols.

Second, Professor Caleb-Solly will present work on socially assistive robots designed to encourage movement and support rehabilitation exercises. Working alongside therapists, this research explores which types of prompts and interactions are most effective in motivating people to stay active, and what this means for designing technologies that genuinely support behaviour change.

Third, she will share insights from longitudinal studies with older adults who have used assistive technologies over time. These studies highlight issues such as trust, emotional attachment, and the ethical use of robotics, as well as design approaches that improve usability while reducing risk.

As Principal Investigator of the EPSRC EMERGENCE Network+ on frailty, Professor Caleb-Solly led a UK-wide “living-lab” ecosystem bringing together researchers, clinicians, industry partners, and communities. The aim was to understand real-world needs and translate them into practical robotic solutions that support earlier intervention, self-management, and scalable evaluation aligned with public health priorities.

Drawing on this work, she will outline recommendations for the responsible development and deployment of healthcare robotics. This includes approaches to ethical design, safety assurance, and workforce skills. She will also discuss four-dimensional safety, which considers physical, cognitive, emotional, and procedural aspects of safety when technologies interact with people.

Finally, the session will introduce a seven-phase roadmap for moving healthcare robotics from early ideas to real-world deployment. Beginning with lived experience, and ending with sustainable implementation and monitoring, this approach aligns directly with IHPE priorities in that it supports population health goals and helps ensure emerging technologies reduce, rather than widen, health inequalities.

Professor Praminda Caleb-Solly is Professor of Embodied Intelligence in the School of Computer Science at the University of Nottingham, University Academic Lead for the National Rehabilitation Centre, and an Honorary Visiting Professor at NUH NHS Trust. Her research focus is assistive robotics and intelligent sensing, with 25+ years’ experience spanning academia and health technology translation, including four years in an assistive-technology SME/charity, Designability. She holds a PhD in Computer Science, an MSc in Biomedical Instrumentation Engineering, and a BEng (Hons) in Electronic Systems Engineering. She leads the Cyber-physical Health and Assistive Robotics Technologies (CHART) research group delivering interdisciplinary programmes and living-lab testbeds focused on evaluation, safety assurance and adoption of robotics and connected health technologies. Her governance and standards roles include Co-Chair of the IEEE RAS Technical Committee on Robot Ethics and membership of ISO TC299/WG2 and UK BSI robotics/ethics committees. She led the EPSRC Healthcare Technologies Network+ EMERGENCE which has produced a White Paper on Robotics in Health and Social Care, and co-leads the NIHR RehabHRC Enabling Participation theme. She is also Co-Founder and Director of Robotics for Good CIC, supporting responsible development and deployment of robotics and AI for public benefit.