This week the LIFEBOTS Exchange partners Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) had a joint meeting and seminar in Norway. The topic for the seminar was “South Korean perspectives on social robots, telepresence & governance of technology”, where we were introduced to exciting projects happening in South Korea, e.g. the case of telemedicine at rural and remote island communities, where doctors are working through a digital screen – with a particular focus on the nurses working on-site holding web cameras to facilitate this form of care practises. We also learned about the Korean robot “Silbot” which is being used in dementia prevention, and the roles of human instructors working along side the “teacher robot”. Additionally, a critical view on the science and technology governance regarding large governing policy practises relating to disasters were presented.

The visiting partners from KAIST were Professor Chihyung Jeon, PhD Candidate Heesun Shin and PhD Candidate Sungeun Kim.

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Seminar with NTNU and KAIST

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On this visit the partners from KAIST received their first introduction to the city, with tours of the city centrum and of the historical Nidaros Cathedral. This introduction to the city is valuable seeing as the representatives from KAIST will travel to NTNU in next year for a work exchange (secondment), and can thus prepare better for how and where they want to spend time on and off work during their secondment. There was also time for a bilateral meeting about possibilities for cooperation in the LIFEBOTS Exchange project, as well as a tour of the IMTEL NTNU VR lab. Find link to the IMTEL NTNU VR lab here: https://www.ntnu.edu/ipl/imtel.

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Guidet tour in the historical Nidaros Cathedral.

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Representatives from NTNU and KAIST in front of the Nidaros Cathedral.

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Testing out exciting VR equipment.

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Guidet tour at the VR-lab at NTNU

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Next week, NTNU will host another seminar and the first official LIFEBOTS Exchange workshop, “Care Practices and Welfare Technology”. The seminar consists of a seminar with speakers from NTNU and IDMind and a guest speaker from University of Michigan - Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute.

Find the link to the Facebook-event of the seminar here: https://www.facebook.com/events/680941169078008/.

If you wish to participate in both the seminar and the workshop, contact lifebots@inb.ntnu.no to receive an invitation.