ICAIR 2023: Conference Recap
This past month, DATE Lab members attended the International Conference on Aging, Innovation and Rehabilitation (ICAIR) hosted by the KITE Research Institute at the University Health Network (UHN) and the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute (RSI) at the University of Toronto.
MScOT students Ava & Eliora in front of their research poster at ICAIR 2023
Having previously been cancelled for two consecutive years due to COVID, the eagerly awaited conference took place in Toronto and welcomed over 600 attendees whose research focused on aging and rehabilitation technologies.
MScOT students Ava and Eliora were selected for a poster presentation for their work on task sequencing in older adults with dementia. View their poster here.
In case you missed our live Tweet coverage of the conference, here is a recap of the exciting events that took place! (P.S. Don’t miss future event updates, follow us on Twitter today!)
Morning:
• Keynote speaker Ruha Benjamin (Princeton University) addressed ethical and cultural concerns surrounding the use of technologies in rehabilitation research. She warned of the risks of amplifying existing biases and discrimination hidden behind a cover of technological neutrality.
• Power Play pitch competition for innovative concepts. Presenters showcased their ideas for new and exciting concepts within the field of rehabilitation and received awards ranging from $2,500- $1,000 to help fund their ideas.
Afternoon:
• Keynote speaker Zen Koh offered a novel view of rehabilitation technologies as a field of inaccessible and complex to use. He proposed a future where these are customizable and more widely affordable for patients and healthcare professionals alike by using robotics and AI.
• Power Play pitch for innovative startups. Companies with a proven concept involving a novel service offering, technology or product for sale or license, or a new product or service currently under development that aim to solve a gap in the healthcare market competed for prizes to fund their ideas. The first-place prize of $25,000 was awarded to ImaginAble technologies for their Guided Hands product, an assistive device that enables individuals with low muscle tone with limited fine motor skills to write, paint, draw and access technology.
•Poster session showcasing 97 different projects. Research presented included exciting work such as restoring movement in patients with spinal cord injury and stroke, using AI technologies to detect pain in non-verbal patients or making Canadian national parks more accessible for individuals with disabilities.
