© Bielefeld University
News
29/10/2025
Mara Brandt and Birte Richter visited the Bullerbach workshop in Bielefeld-Eckardtsheim with Nao the robot and Paro the therapy seal from the "Interactive assistance technology in medicine and care" showroom. The workshop provides a workplace for around 150 employees, who had requested Nao's visit after meeting him at the "Bethel athletics" sports festival.
Two interactive stands were set up in the foyer with the therapy seal Paro and the robot Nao, who gave instructions on sports exercises. Many employees showed great interest even during the set-up, and Paro, the cuddly seal, was stroked enthusiastically and also left a lasting impression on employees with autism.
A big thank you to everyone involved for the invitation, the open dialogue and the great interest - an all-round enriching visit!
15/10/2025
In October, we welcomed three different groups of visitors to our "Interactive assistance technologies in medicine and care" showroom.
The first group was made up of social work students from Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences on 15 October. They were particularly interested in therapeutic applications and the question of how interactive assistance systems can support people in their everyday social and healthcare lives.
On 21 October, as in the previous year, the new trainees followed as part of their welcome days. The new trainees took the opportunity to familiarise themselves with technical support systems and try them out for themselves - there was particularly positive feedback on virtual training with VR glasses and the robot seal Paro.
The very next day, 22 October, a group of occupational therapists visited us and we introduced them to the NAO robot, among other things. The robot's tutorials (in connection with lecture/seminar) for robot-assisted sports therapy were developed together with physiotherapists, resulting in an exciting professional exchange about possible applications and therapeutic perspectives.
We were also able to present our showroom to our research guest Matthias Rehm at the end of October.
We are delighted with the continued interest and the stimulating discussions. A big thank you to everyone who visited us in October!
27/09/2025
As part of GENIALE and Bielefeld University's Campus Day, AI*IM organised the opening of the Interactive Assistance Technology Showroom and invited visitors to gain an insight into current research projects together with Wissenswerkstadt Bielefeld.
Inclusive teaching assistants Silke Bleckert and Dominik Urbanczyk from Bethel Hospital joined our team to present various assistance systems from the fields of everyday assistance, therapy and rehabilitation. These included Nao, a robot that encourages people to exercise, Paro, the robotic seal, and VR glasses that patients can use to (re)learn everyday activities.
Many guests, young and old, took the opportunity to try out for themselves how technology can support medicine and care. We are delighted with the great interest and the many curious questions!
18/09/2025
On Thursday 18 September, our showroom was part of the Innovation Festival 2025 in Bielefeld. This year, for the first time, the festival brought together companies, research institutions and start-ups from the region to showcase new ideas, technologies and projects related to innovation.
As part of the event, we presented various technical support systems for anyone who is curious about new technologies relating to medicine and care. The exhibits on show included research from our working groups and commercial products:
- Systems for people with dementia that are designed to promote communication, cognition and motor skills and thus contribute to improved well-being
- Attention trainer with virtual agent to support people with ADHD
- The NAO robot, which is being researched in robot-assisted sports and movement therapy with children and young people.
We are particularly pleased about the participation of Stefan Kopp's Cognitive Systems and Social Interaction working group with their demonstrator ASCODI -an AI tool for the explainability of diagnoses, which is intended to help doctors diagnose diseases.
We would like to thank all the guests we were able to welcome to our showroom!
You can find an article about the Innovation Festival in the current issue of the IHK magazine OWi - Ostwestfälische Wirtschaft at https://blog.ostwestfalen.ihk.de/owi/#flipbook-df_22799/1/ on pages 48 and 49.
28/06/2025
The showroom of the medical school OWL was also represented at this year's Bethel Athletics with selected systems at the stand of the BRAVO project and Rehavista.
Among other things, the Nao robot, the Paro seal and the ichó ball were presented - technical assistance systems that playfully contribute to activation and participation. Dr Mara Brandt, Aiko Galetzka and Anna-Leonie Sommerfeld presented them at the event and talked to visitors. A big thank you to everyone involved for the successful interaction at the stand!
Bethel Athletics is an annual inclusive sports festival that promotes playful interaction between people with and without disabilities and aims to create connections. The festival is organised by the Bethel diaconal institution in Bielefeld.
24/06/2025
From 23 to 28 June, the digital theme week of the DiA - Digital im Alter network took place in the "aufZeit" pop-up store in Gütersloh. Mara Brandt presented the showroom of the medical school OWL together with Heidi Ostmeier, senior citizens' representative of the city of Gütersloh.
The Nao robot, which demonstrated sporting tutorials (in connection with lecture/seminar) from the Mobirobot project, as well as the Paro seal and the ichó ball - assistance systems that are specially tailored to the needs of older people - were also present.
At the same time, the Evangelical Church District of Gütersloh also offered its own programme in the pop-up store. Initial ideas for a three-way event were developed in a joint dialogue - we are delighted to have got to know each other and are looking forward to this new collaboration.
20/05/2025
On 20 May, Mobirobot NAO and Mara Brandt had the opportunity to visit the children at the Lohmann-Carree daycare centre.
During the visit, NAO introduced itself to the children and demonstrated some of its movement and speech skills. For example, he told a movement story about a small caterpillar, whereby the children were encouraged by the robot to move at the same time. The children really enjoyed the encounter and displayed how efficiently NAO can be used to motivate movement.
Thank you for this wonderful opportunity!
13/03/2025
On March 13, we had the honor of welcoming the regional board of the SPD senior organization 60plus from Ostwestfalen. As part of the meeting, the members learned about the latest possibilities and trends in technological support for everyday life and care.
Particularly enriching was the lively exchange, which sparked numerous exciting discussions. The board members contributed valuable insights and perspectives, shedding light on both the potential and challenges of modern technologies in the field of senior care.
We sincerely thank them for this profound dialogue, which not only provided us with new ideas but also valuable impulses for the future development of this important area.
07/01/2025
On January 7, we had the pleasure of welcoming 30 students from the Health Communication program at Bielefeld University to our showroom Interactive Assistance Systems in Medicine and Care.
As part of a course that focuses on the introduction to e-health and the digitalization of healthcare, the showroom visit provided an opportunity to complement theoretical knowledge with hands-on experiences. The students were able to explore, test, and inquire about various technical assistance systems presented in the showroom.
We hope we were able to make the theoretical concepts of the course more tangible and engaging, and we sincerely thank the students for their keen interest and insightful discussions.
11/12/2024
On December 11, we had the pleasure of welcoming Dirk Stößel, IT Director of the Synaxon Academy, along with other representatives, to our showroom Interactive Assistance Systems in Medicine and Care at the Faculty of Medicine, Bielefeld University.
The visit aimed to explore potential collaboration opportunities between the Synaxon Academy and Bielefeld University. The primary focus was on integrating selected showroom projects into Synaxon events, enriching their content while simultaneously increasing the visibility of Bielefeld University's research findings within the IT sector.
We appreciate the fruitful discussions and look forward to the opportunity to further bridge the gap between science and practice through continued collaboration.
04/12/2024
On December 4, we had the pleasure of welcoming students from the University of Applied Sciences to the showroom Interactive Assistance in Medicine and Care. The visit was part of the seminar Social Work – Digitalization – Transformation, led by Udo Seelmeyer, Hannes Breder, and Judith Reuter, which focuses on internship support for social work students.
During their visit, the students actively explored and tested various technical assistance systems on display in the showroom. Among the exhibits, the Mobirobot NAO—a robot designed for use in pediatric physiotherapy—drew particular interest.
We appreciate the lively exchange and hope the students gained valuable insights that allow them to connect the theoretical aspects of their seminar with hands-on experiences.
15/10/2024
On 15 October, we, the working group for medical assistance systems and the working group for interactive robotics in medicine and care, welcomed the new trainees to our showroom as part of their welcome days. The trainees came together from a wide range of subject areas and had the opportunity to gain an insight into various technical support systems and try them out.
We were delighted to welcome the new trainees to Bielefeld and hope that they were able to gain exciting impressions and take something away with them for themselves or their future appointments.
We wish them all a successful start to their professional careers!
18/09/2024
We, the working groups for Medical Assistance Systems and Interactive Robotics in Medicine and Care, were able to present three of our exhibits from the showroom at the introductory event of the "Logged In" week at the Wissenswerkstatt Bielefeld. They included the Paro therapy robot, the Robo Camp (medical assistance systems) and the NAO mobile robot (interactive robotics in medicine and care). True to the motto "The proof of the pudding is in the eating", our exhibits were not only presented, but could also be tried out by the guests.
From stroking the cute seal Paro to hands-on training with the NAO - young and old came together with interest and openness. This led to a lively exchange and exciting conversations about the opportunities and risks of the new technology. For our team, the event was therefore an enriching experience all round and it was exciting to see how the public reacted to our exhibits.
We are grateful for the many new ideas and a successful day!
27/08/2024
On 27 August 2020, around 30 employees of the university library visited the showroom of the working group for medical assistance systems and the working group for interactive robotics in medicine and care. The visitors had the opportunity to familiarise themselves with a wide range of technical support systems, ask questions and actively try them out.
We would like to thank you for an exciting and lively exchange and hope to see more curious guests in our showroom!
20/06/2024
We, the working groups Medical Assistance Systems and Robotics in Medicine and Care, had the honor to welcome Londa Schiebinger (Stanford) and Sabine Oertelt-Prigione in our showroom! We would like to thank our guests for the interesting discussions about gender research, women in science and robots, and look forward to future discussions and collaborations!