Prof Farshid Amirabdollahian
“We can get machines to do the more difficult part of our job while humans can focus on tasks that need compassion.”
Professor Farshid Amirabdollahian is a professor of Human-Robot interaction within the School of Physics, Engineering and Computer Science, and is the Principal Investigator at the University's 'Robot House' facility. He also teaches Robotics and AI to undergraduate students.
Farshid looks at how robots can adapt to human interaction – an adaptive robot can have many applications, from supporting patients in their recovery from a brain injury to robots 'learning' how to effectively pick fruit and vegetables, which helps farmers make huge efficiency savings.
Farshid's work is also at the intersection of the physical and virtual worlds, designing 'digital twins' to provide a testbed for technological interventions or changes. Because a digital twin virtually represents a real-world patient or place, authorities can more safely test effectiveness and impact; for example when implementing a new traffic management system in a town.
He also has a keen interest in neuroscience and is engaged in research to identify the signs of mental and physical fatigue in the brain and muscles, to ensure treatment plans are given at the right time to improve patient outcomes.