ICSR 2026 — Special Session: Assistive Robotics and Exoskeletons for Human Augmentation and Wellbeing
Building interdisciplinary bridges through assistive technologies, social robots, and creative therapies
18th International Conference on Social Robotics
Special Session: Assistive Robotics and Exoskeletons for Human Augmentation and Wellbeing
Conference Details
- Conference: 18th International Conference on Social Robotics (ICSR 2026)
- Dates: 1–4 July 2026
- Location: University of London, London, UK
Organisers
- Farshid Amirabdollahian
- Mohamad Reza Shahabian Alashti
- Shadiya Alingal Meethal
- Patrick Holthaus
- Gabriella Lakatos
All organisers are affiliated with the Robotics Research Group, University of Hertfordshire, UK.
Description
This special session bridges the fields of assistive robotics, rehabilitation, and social human–robot interaction, with an invitation to explore new intersections with creative and expressive therapies. As the field of social robotics matures, it becomes increasingly important to consider not just how robots assist physically, but how they engage, empower, and emotionally support users in therapeutic contexts.
We focus on wearable robotic systems—such as exoskeletons, soft exosuits, and intelligent assistive devices—designed to enhance physical function, facilitate recovery, and promote independence in both clinical and everyday environments. These systems often integrate biosignals (EMG, EEG, IMU), deep learning models, and co-adaptive control for personalised support.
In addition to traditional rehabilitation, this session also invites contributions at the interface of assistive robotics and creative therapies, including art therapy, where social robots and assistive technologies are designed to support cognitive, emotional, and expressive goals. From supporting movement through collaborative painting to enabling voice and gesture in therapeutic storytelling, we aim to foreground how social and wearable robots can participate in multimodal, human-centred healing practices.
This session embraces ICSR’s mission of advancing socially intelligent robotics while building bridges with fields such as occupational therapy, cognitive neuroscience, digital arts, and healthcare design.
Key Themes
- Wearable Assistive Robotics: Exosuits and exoskeletons for daily support and motor recovery
- Multimodal Sensing and Intent Detection: EMG, EEG, IMU, and biosignal integration
- AI-Driven Adaptation: Deep and meta-learning for real-time, personalised assistance
- Human–Robot Interaction in Rehabilitation and Art-Based Therapies
- Social Robots in Creative and Complementary Therapy: Use of robots in art therapy, music-based interventions, or storytelling
- Ethical and Inclusive Design: Trust, long-term use, accessibility, and identity-sensitive interaction
- Real-World Evaluation: Clinical trials, longitudinal studies, and deployment in care and cultural settings
- Benchmarks and Frameworks: Open datasets, replicability, and cross-domain methodological tools
Submission
For the conference submission, authors can submit their papers to the appropriate Special Session via the ICSR conference submission system, using the designated SS code. Each paper will undergo a peer-review process managed by the special session organisers, who will invite at least two independent reviewers for each submission. Based on the reviewers’ evaluations, the SS organisers will decide whether to accept or reject.
Accepted papers for Special Sessions will be included in the conference proceedings, published by Springer International Publishing in the Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence (LNAI) series — a topical subseries of the Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS). The proceedings will be indexed in SpringerLink and Scopus.