The Challenge: A Disconnect in Digital Care
As the European population gracefully ages, the demand for personalized, high-quality care in assisted living facilities is soaring. Yet, a significant challenge persists: how do we ensure that technology truly supports, rather than complicates, this vital human endeavor? Many existing digital care systems are rigid, failing to adapt to the evolving needs of senior users. What’s more, Human-Machine Interactions (HMI) in robotics often lack intuition, relying on outdated input methods that don’t truly understand human emotions, gestures, or subtle cues. This leaves caregivers stretched thin and limits the potential for truly empathetic, efficient care.
Introducing EMBRACE: Intelligent Care, Human-First
EMBRACE is a human-first experiment supported by the European Commission through the ARISE project, developed by iBreve and validated through MADoPA in real-world settings. It aims to deliver an AI-powered robotic system that reimagines assisted living by placing emotional intelligence, inclusivity and adaptability at the core.
Imagine a robot that doesn’t just respond to commands, but truly understands you. EMBRACE makes this possible. Designed in alignment with Industry 5.0 principles, it leverages multimodal communication – interpreting not just speech, but also gestures, posture, and signs of emotional distress – to provide personalized rehabilitation and real-time, adaptive support. This isn’t just assistive technology; it’s a step toward empathetic, respectful and intuitive care. The robotic system can adapt its guidance, offer encouragement, or adjust exercises based on a user’s genuine state, creating an experience that is both highly effective and personal.
For seniors, it means personalized rehabilitation exercises and adaptive feedback that enhance autonomy and motivation, improving adherence and outcomes. For caregivers, EMBRACE reduces workloads, allowing them to focus on high-value care and human interactions. And for care systems, the solution promotes innovative, cost-effective rehabilitation and helps alleviate pressure on institutions and staff.
Beyond the user-level impact, EMBRACE is expected to contribute to broader goals in healthcare, AI and robotics. By enabling personalized and effective home-based rehabilitation, it supports healthier aging, reduces hospital visits and aligns with European priorities for sustainable and inclusive innovation. The system’s human-centric design, emphasis on privacy-preserving local data processing and use of open-source frameworks all contribute to its long-term relevance and transferability.
Contribution to ARISE: Reusable, Open and Scalable
A key element of EMBRACE’s contribution to the ARISE ecosystem is the development of reusable ROS2-based robotic skill modules, to be published in the ARISE Open Library. These modular Human-Robot Interaction functionalities, implemented as ROS2 modules, enable seamless integration of multimodal capabilities like posture or gesture recognition.
EMBRACE was co-designed with users from the beginning – thanks to MADoPA’s close engagement with assisted living facilities and their socio-anthropological approach. This perspective goes beyond usability testing: it uncovers how seniors and caregivers actually negotiate technology in their daily routines, how cultural attitudes shape trust, and how dignity and autonomy can be preserved in digital care. This depth of understanding ensures that EMBRACE is intuitive, inclusive, and respectful of the lived experiences of those it serves. This commitment to user participation ensures the system is intuitive, inclusive and focused on the actual needs of senior people and their caregivers. At a technological level, the system integrates ROS2 and FIWARE for interoperability and real-time communication and focuses on privacy-first local data processing in the care environment – building trust and meeting high standards for privacy and transparency.
Shaping the Future: Impact and Potential
The need for solutions like EMBRACE is clear. The global Human-Robot Interaction market is booming, and the European assisted living and rehabilitation sector represents a significant opportunity. The user-friendly, adaptive and multimodal approach of EMBRACE offers a compelling alternative to expensive, clinic-based rehabilitation systems.
Beyond the market potential, EMBRACE is set to deliver profound social benefits:
- Healthier Lives: By enabling personalized rehabilitation, EMBRACE contributes to better health outcomes for an aging population.
- New Opportunities: The project fosters economic growth by generating new jobs in engineering, healthcare and AI.
- Sustainable Innovation: The commitment to modular, open standards and local processing enables long-term impact.
- Trustworthy AI: EMBRACE is dedicated to building AI systems that are fair, transparent and inclusive, safeguarding user data rights and building public confidence in robotics.
The EMBRACE experiment is a powerful example of how robotic systems, guided by human-centric principles, can address pressing societal needs and create a more compassionate, efficient and sustainable future for care.