Artificial intelligence (AI) is used in many different applications and their expanse is growing almost as much as the benefits it can provide. In healthcare, science and financial applications, AI can improve the results by providing efficiency beyond the human capability. Engadget brought this interesting news to our attention in their article, “AI-tuned robotic knee helps amputees walk within minutes.”
One example is with amputees and their prosthetics. Amputees who receive robotic limbs usually can’t start using them right away as it requires hours of manual tweaks to adapt to their particular movement styles. However, researchers have crafted an AI system that can tune a robotic knee to allow walking on level ground within 10 minutes by using a trial-and-error algorithm to recognize patterns in sensor data, set initial safety limits, and learn patterns that match stable, smooth walking motions.
Amputees may only have 15 to 20 minutes before they have to stop due to physical limitations. You can’t put wearers in danger. This is where AI really shines. This is not ready for real-world use as scientists are still working with this application on inclines, stairs and rough terrain. But the promise of improvement is there through emerging technologies.
Melody K. Smith
Sponsored by Access Innovations, the world leader in thesaurus, ontology, and taxonomy creation and metadata application.
