Congratulations to PhD Candidate, Emma Smith, on winning the “Most Moving Demo” at the Drinks & Demos event at this year’s AGEWELL annual conference in Montreal.

Emma’s presentation:

CoPILOT Remote Tele-Operator for Powered Mobility Training

“Learning to drive a powered wheelchair can be difficult for older adults with cognitive or memory impairments. In consultation with clinicians and wheelchair users, we developed a remote tele-operation device (CoPILOT) and training program to address the needs of this population. CoPILOT allows a trainer to share control of the wheelchair with the learner to provide demonstration, error-correction, and graded learning activities. This allows the training to be individualized to the person’s learning needs, promoting safety, and potentially reducing anxiety associated with learning. In this session, we will provide a demonstration of the CoPILOT remote control on a powered wheelchair.”