Perspectives in Assistive Technology is a Winter Quarter Stanford course - embarking on its nineteenth year - that explores the design, development, and use of assistive technology that benefits people with disabilities and older adults. It consists of semi-weekly in-person discussions; lectures by notable professionals, clinicians, and assistive technology users; a tour of an accessible inclusive playground; student project presentations and demonstrations; and an Assistive Technology Faire. Students pursue team-based projects that address real challenges faced by people with disabilities and older adults living in the local community. Check out the course website.

Student Enrollment - The course has enrolled 30 students, 26 have opted to work on a total of 7 team projects. There are 2 Freshmen, 2 Sophomores, 8 Juniors, 12 Seniors, and 6 Graduate students.

Participating Exhibitors - There are 8 confirmed exhibitors for the Assistive Technology Faire.

Community Attendance - Community members are most welcome to attend class sessions on campus, enrollment is not required. There will not be a Zoom participation option this year.

Tuesday, February 3rd at 4:30pm PST

Abstract: "Human beings are remarkable for the many ways we can impact the world. We move through and interact with the world directly, or with the help of tools, using our brains and our muscles to control those tools. Robots can be thought of as tools, often with computers instead of brains, and motors instead of muscles. Robots were invented to serve humanity and can be great assistive technologies. They can augment and extend our capabilities, whether to replace functions we no longer have (or never had), or to give us new powers. Additionally, they can support healthy behaviors that contribute to longevity, from physical activity to social connection. In this talk, we'll give examples of how robots can and do help people, from the Robots for Humanity project and other work at Stanford and beyond, in order to explore what makes robots different from other assistive technologies. We'll also present the new SOAR (Stanford Older Adult Robotics) project that we're launching at the Stanford Robotics Center."

Biosketch: Steve B. Cousins is the Executive Director of the Stanford Robotics Center. He founded Relay Robotics, formerly Savioke, serving as CTO and CEO, where he led the development and deployment of Relay - an autonomous delivery robot that works in human environments to help people. Steve was previously President and CEO of Willow Garage, and is a founding board member of the Open Source Robotics Foundation. Steve received the IEEE / IFR Award for Invention and Entrepreneurship in Robotics and Automation in 2017.

Steve earned his PhD in Computer Science at Stanford University under the direction of Terry Winograd, and also holds BS and MS computer science degrees from Washington University.

Biosketch: Michelle Baldonado is a Research Engineer at the Stanford Robotics Center. She leads the Stanford Older Adults Robotics (SOAR) project at the SRC. Michelle earned her PhD in Computer Science at Stanford University under the direction of Terry Winograd. She also earned an MPhil in Computer Speech and Language Processing from Cambridge University and an AB in Computer Science (joint with Linguistics) from Harvard University.

Thursday, February 5th at 4:30pm PST

Abstract: The development of Assistive Technology benefits from the contributions of many areas of study. Engineering of physical devices plays a crucial role in meeting the needs of the user and improving the human experience. There are many user needs however, that would greatly benefit from systems capable of not only performing passively, but also from devices that can take action to directly help the user. The question becomes "How can an assistive device capable of taking action, determine the best action to take, in order to help the user at a given moment?". This question leads to the field of Robotics, which is the development of 'thinking' machines. While the term 'thinking' here is used very broadly, it can be simplified to the ability to observe a scenario (perception), 'think' or plan about what action to take (this could range from a simple feedback control principle to a machine learning model), then perform some action on the world to change the scenario in some way. Assistive Robotics is the field of study of applying all the advancements of robotics to assistive technology solutions that would benefit from 'thinking' devices. In this talk, I will highlight basic principles of 'thinking' machines and discuss the application of these principles to assistive technology with a primary focus on work performed in the Stanford Assistive Robotics and Manipulation Laboratory (ARMLab).

Biosketch: Monroe Kennedy III is an assistant professor in Mechanical Engineering and by courtesy, Computer Science at Stanford University. Monroe is the recipient of the NSF Faculty Early Career Award. He directs the Assistive Robotics and Manipulation Laboratory ARMLab, where the focus is on developing collaborative, autonomous robots capable of performing dexterous, complex tasks with human and robotic teammates. Monroe received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics and master’s in Robotics from the University of Pennsylvania.

• Tuesday, February 10th - Mid-term Student Team Project Presentations
• Thursday, February 12th - Field Trip to the Magical Bridge Playground

Product manufactuers and service providers are invited to participate in the Assistive Technology Faire - This fourteenth annual course event is scheduled for Thursday, February 19th and will provide an opportunity for students and community members to get an up-close look at a variety of assistive technology devices and learn about available services. Users of assistive technology products as well as small companies and agencies serving individuals with disabilities and older adults are encouraged to join in on this event. Browse to the Call for Assistive Technology Faire Participants webpage for more information and contact me to register.

Everyone is welcome to attend this event. Here is the current line up and slides from last year's Faire.