Skip to Main Content

“Murphy’s Law: his eyelids aren’t working today.”

Professor Goldie Nejat (MIE) fusses over Brian’s facial features, adjusting his pliable, rubbery skin, pushing it up over his eyeballs. Dr. Nejat, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto, is used to machines: she became an anatomy expert just to create Brian, to help him appear human. Still, the motors that control his face don’t always co-operate.

Brian is a socially interactive robot, a prototype in development at U of T’s autonomous systems and biomechatronics lab. The 4-foot-6, 200-pound machine may one day assist the elderly in long-term care by interacting with residents, playing games and reminding those with cognitive impairments to do daily tasks, such as brushing their teeth. The Baycrest health-sciences centre in Toronto is already a partner in the project.

With projections showing that seniors will account for 23 to 25 per cent of the total population by 2036, nearly double the 13.9 per cent in 2009, Brian could take the strain off health-care workers in hospitals and live-in facilities and, ideally, help seniors stay in their own homes longer by monitoring the environment and providing assistance along with human health professionals.

Professor Nejat has no intention of replacing humans, describing her work as a “robot-human team.”

Follow the links to read the full article on The Globe and Mail website, or to view the video and interview with Professor Nejat on the IT World Canada website.

Media Contact

Fahad Pinto
Communications & Media Relations Strategist
416.978.4498