Digital Telework for Remote Physical Work
Remote-operated robots to help protect long-term care home staff and residents.
Project Overview
Updated May 1, 2024.
The Problem
Working remotely has been a key tool in stopping the spread of COVID-19, but currently there is no technology that allows remote workers to perform physical work.
Performing physical work remotely would not only be an economic catalyst during a pandemic, but a critical safety measure for labour-intensive environments like hospitals and long-term care homes. Today, Canadian healthcare workers are three times more likely to contract COVID-19 than the general public. Long-term care facilities have had multiple cluster outbreaks and been a large source of COVID-19 fatalities in Canada.
How We Are Solving It
The Digital Telework for Remote Physical Work project is working to test remotely operated robots in long-term care and clinical settings with the potential for other Canadian labour-intensive industries. The initiative expands the current capabilities of telework technology – currently limited to video and audio interactions – to make physical interactions possible by connecting remote workers to general purpose robots through secure mobile networks.
The project is led by Sanctuary AI in partnership with Rogers Communications, Microsoft, Expeto, the University of British Columbia, the Vancouver Economic Commission, Revera, AInBC, Nurse Next Door and Forcen Technologies.
In hospital settings, healthcare workers are trialing a tele-robotic system to conduct portions of a physical exam. In long-term care homes, the system will be used to measure vital signs and potentially manage the delivery of medications and aid in meal assistance.
The artificial intelligence behind the system also has the potential to learn and automate parts of the care provided, enabling productivity increases for the professionals remotely operating the robots and addressing the systemic shortage of care workers in Canada.
The Result
This project expanded beyond the existing use of video and audio technologies for the virtual work environment to include remote physical work, demonstrating the use of robots in long-term care and clinic settings using 4G/5G networks and digital medical tools such as digital stethoscopes and biometric monitoring to improve patient care, patient outcomes, and the work environment for healthcare teams. The project successfully established a digital learning environment to support artificial intelligence model development, refined robot piloting capabilities for the healthcare setting, and is currently validating the robot capabilities in a testing environment.
In May 2024, Sanctuary AI and Microsoft announced their collaboration to accelerate AI development for general purpose robots. Their initial relationship leading to this pivotal collaboration originated through the Digital Telework project, as an example of the lasting impacts DIGITAL provides in bringing together Canadian SMEs and crucial multinational partners.
Project Lead
Project Partners
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"COVID-19 has presented the world with an economic and labour challenge unprecedented in modern times. Partnering with the Digital Technology Supercluster and collaborating with Microsoft, Expeto, the University of British COlumbia and AInBC to build a highly innovative digital approach to job creation is a critical step in supporting Canada's economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis."
Chief Commercial Officer, Sanctuary AI Read our Impact Story