Robots are being used to help occupational therapists gain a better understanding of the impact of touch during physical and seated assessments.
The robots act as stand-ins for people being assessed, simulating various health conditions and characteristics.
They are part of a research project by Oxfordshire County Council's adult social care team, University College London (UCL), and the Oxford Robotics Institute (ORI), University of Oxford.
Part of an occupational therapist's assessment takes place through physical interactions to assess a patient’s mobility and posture.
The hope is the robots will help occupational therapists to improve their skills and assessments.
Councillor Tim Bearder, Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet member for adult social care, said: "Our occupational therapists play an important role in our Oxfordshire Way vision by supporting people to live well and independently within their own homes.
"We’ve had an opportunity to work with world-renowned institutions, giving our occupational therapists access to innovative technology that gives them greater confidence in how they carry out their vital work and supports our residents to have a better experience during physical assessments."
The research also looks at how touch can be used as a non-verbal communication method, known as 'affective touch', to comfort or support a patient.
Nadia Berthouze, professor in affective computing and interaction at UCL, said: "We are adopting a user-centred approach in designing this innovative technology, collaborating closely with occupational therapists to ensure the solution is tailored to their needs and enhances training effectiveness."
UCL and ORI experts have built a robot and accompanying software with various sensors, capable of recreating a patient’s physical health profile and behaviour, to provide standardised training platforms for occupational therapists.
The programme has been running for two years, from the initial objectives around further understanding the role of touch, to the most recent development of a mannequin-like robot.
This can be programmed to simulate various medical conditions such as arthritis and dementia.
Perla Maiolino, associate professor of engineering science at the Oxford Robotics Institute, said: "The development of a robotic platform, capable of precisely capturing very gentle, as well as more forceful interactions, while providing a realistic feel and semblance, has required the use of state-of-the-art technology for sensing, actuation and control."
The robot mannequin, called Mona, is now ready to be used by occupational therapists as a training platform.
The ultimate goal of the programme is to understand the more nuanced uses of the sense of touch to create robots that can better collaborate with humans.
The project is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council through the Embodied Intelligence: From Sensing to Collaboration programme grant.
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