AI-POWERED SOCIALLY ASSISTIVE ROBOTS: REVOLUTIONIZING IN-HOME THERAPEUTIC EXERCISE FOR OLDER ADULTS - Issue 2 - abstract citation id igaf122.1544

Sep 29, 2026

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Physical activity for older adults counteracts chronic disease, falls, osteoporosis, depression, and dementia while supporting mobility and independence. Limited access to structured exercise and rehabilitation arises from shortages of licensed physical and occupational therapists, transportation barriers, and low proximity to care, especially for rural residents and people with disabilities. Socially assistive robots (SAR) can deliver tailored home exercise programs. A learning-from-demonstration method lets therapists teach exercises without coding, while computer vision quantifies and assesses movement quality for tracking deficiencies and progress. A survey of 110 therapists evaluates robot-led therapy and highlights implementation barriers.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages2

Reading Time5 min

AccessFree to download

Overview of the problem

Need for in-home, structured rehabilitation

Proposed AI-enabled SAR approach

Learning-from-demonstration teaching

Computer vision for exercise quality assessment

Implementation and evaluation

Framework for tracking performance

Survey of licensed therapists and barriers

Innovation in Aging, 2025, Vol. 9, No. S2 453 Abstract citation ID: igaf122.1544 AI-POWERED SOCIALLY ASSISTIVE ROBOTS: REVOLUTIONIZING IN-HOME THERAPEUTIC EXERCISE FOR OLDER ADULTS Dain LaRoche1, Momotaz Begum1, Sajay Arthanat1, Jing Wang1, and Paul Gesel2, 1. University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire, United States, 2. PickNik Robotics, Boulder, Colorado, United States Physical activity for older adults is an important countermeasure to reduce the risk for chronic disease, falls, osteoporosis, depression and dementia while serving to preserve mobility and independence in activities of daily living. Access to structured physical activity and rehabilitation services is hampered by a deficit of licensed physical and occupational therapists, transportation challenges, and proximity to care services, particularly for older adults with disability and those who live in rural settings. Artificially intelligent SAR have the potential to bridge the care access gap by providing home exercise programs that can be tailored and autonomously delivered to older adults. A learning from demonstration algorithm allows therapists to teach robots exercises without computer programming, and computer vision can be used to recognize, quantify, and assess the quality of the exercises performed by older adults in their home, allowing for 454 Innovation in Aging, 2025, Vol. 9, No. S2 the identification of movement deficiencies and tracking of progress over time. We will illustrate the process by which therapists can teach robots exercises using AI, how the exercises are encoded and delivered by the robot, a framework for tracking performance, and results of a survey of 110 licensed therapists who were asked to evaluate the potential for robot-led therapy in home settings. We will discuss the emerging potential of SAR as an in-home adjunct therapy to supplement clinical exercise programs as well as the barriers to implementation including the anatomical structure of current robots, ability to provide real-time, physical, corrective feedback, potential loss of human connection, user acceptance and cost.

FAQs

Why is physical activity emphasized for older adults in this work?

It is presented as a countermeasure to reduce risks such as chronic disease, falls, osteoporosis, depression, and dementia, while preserving mobility and independence in daily activities.

What access barriers to rehabilitation does the document highlight?

The abstract cites deficits of licensed physical and occupational therapists, transportation challenges, and limited proximity to care services, particularly for older adults with disabilities and those living in rural settings.

How do the robots learn and evaluate exercises at home?

A learning-from-demonstration algorithm enables therapists to teach robot exercises without computer programming, and computer vision recognizes, quantifies, and assesses exercise quality to track progress and identify movement deficiencies over time.

Sep 29, 2026

Uploaded by Blitz