At the recent annual AGE-WELL conference in Montreal, Emma Smith won the “Most Moving Demo” at the Drinks & Demos event. She demonstrated how to use the CoPILOT remote tele-operation device and training program to help patients learn to drive a powered wheelchair.
The abstract for her presentation can be seen below.
CoPILOT Remote Tele-Operator for Powered Mobility Training
Presented by Emma Smith, University of British Columbia
Learning to drive a powered wheelchair can be difficult for older adults with cognitive or memory impairments. In consultation with clinicians and wheelchair users, we developed a remote tele-operation device (CoPILOT) and training program to address the needs of this population. CoPILOT allows a trainer to share control of the wheelchair with the learner to provide demonstration, error-correction, and graded learning activities. This allows the training to be individualized to the person’s learning needs, promoting safety, and potentially reducing anxiety associated with learning. In this session, we will provide a demonstration of the CoPILOT remote control on a powered wheelchair.