Invited Seminar by Dr. Thomas M. Kwok from the University of Waterloo

On September 29, 2025, Dr. Thomas M. Kwok from the University of Waterloo, Canada, delivered an invited seminar at Hanyang University ERICA, titled
“Beyond Motion: Human-Centered Design and Cognitive HRI in Healthcare Robotics.”

Dr. Kwok shared his research on human-centered design in healthcare robotics, emphasizing how cognitive aspects of human–robot interaction (HRI) can enhance safety, adaptability, and engagement in rehabilitation and caregiving systems.

During the talk, he introduced several ongoing projects, including:

• A bimanual rehabilitation exoskeleton with transparent human-in-the-loop control strategies.
• Haptic perception frameworks that address network-induced feedback delays in teleoperation.
• Action-recognition teleoperation using graph neural networks (GNNs) to reduce cognitive and physical workload in remote caregiving.

The seminar concluded with active discussion among attendees, exploring future directions for adaptive, cognitive-aware robotic systems that deliver personalized care across healthcare and assistive domains.

We sincerely thank Dr. Kwok for his insightful presentation and for sharing his vision on advancing human-centered healthcare robotics.