Robotic and AI for Aging

Enabling Autonomy and Independence in Aging Societies through Advanced Robotics and AI: Methods, Challenges, and Future Perspectives

2026 IEEE International Conference on Robotics & Automation (ICRA)

5 June, Vienna, Austria

The world is entering a stage of rapid aging, with increasing numbers of older adults living alone, severe caregiver shortages, and traditional eldercare models under significant strain. Robotics and AI are emerging as vital tools for health monitoring, rehabilitation, cognitive training, and socially assistive companionship, aiming not only to support daily needs but also to enhance overall capabilities and quality of life. However, the true challenge lies in moving beyond simple substitution to systems that actively foster autonomy, safeguard independence, and uphold dignity in later years. This Workshop will spotlight the critical role of robotics and AI in addressing the challenges of aging societies. Discussions will cover essential methodological innovations, technical and ethical challenges, and future perspectives that will shape the next generation of intelligent systems. By convening researchers, frontline caregivers, young scholars, and industry stakeholders, the Workshop seeks to advance cross-disciplinary collaboration grounded in human-centered values. Its overarching aim is to reimagine technological design and practice—not merely as tools of assistance, but as active partners that empower older adults to regain control over their bodies, cognition, and daily rhythms. In doing so, the Workshop will highlight pathways to rekindle confidence, participation, and enthusiasm for living.

We aim to discuss questions including, but not limited to:

Robotics and AI in Elderly Care: Hopes, Fears, and Ethical Dilemmas
Care Robots and Monitoring Support for Sustaining Everyday Autonomy
Physical Assistance and Rehabilitation Technologies for Independent Living
Cognitive Support Systems to Foster Decision-Making Autonomy
Interaction and Companionship to Sustain Psychosocial Autonomy

Invited Speaker (Tentative)

Gordon Cheng

IEEE Fellow

Technical University of Munich(TUM)

Talk Title: TBD

Shane Xie

IEEE Fellow

University of Leeds

Darwin Caldwell

IEEE Fellow

Italian Institute of Technology (IIT)

Mustafa Suphi Erden

Heriot-Watt University

Qi An

The University of Tokyo

Gastone Ciuti

Scuola Superiore Asnt'Anna

Mingchuan Zhou

Zhejiang University

Kazuko Obayashi

Social Welfare Corportation Tokyo Seishin-kai, Japan. University College Dublin (UCD-JaSt), Ireland.

Yue Gao

Shanghai Jiaotong University

Yanmin Zhou

Tongji University

Call for Paper

We invite submissions including but not limited to the following topics:

Assistive robots for activities of daily living (ADL) support.
Intelligent monitoring and fall detection systems for older adults.
Wearable and non-intrusive sensors for continuous eldercare.
Edge computing and IoT integration for sustainable care ecosystems.
Roboic rehabilitation technologies for mobility support and muscle restoration.
Exoskeletons and adaptive physical assistance for independent living.
Embodied intelligence for natural human–robot collaboration.
AI-based detection of cognitive decline and early-stage dementia.
Cognitive training and contextual interventions powered by AI.
LLM-based agents for decision-making autonomy and personalized support.
Companion robots for emotional regulation and psychosocial well-being.
Affective modeling and empathetic dialogue systems for elderly care.
Multimodal sensing and fusion for health and activity monitoring.
Personalized adaptive strategies for robotic interventions.
Data-driven learning to address individual and subpopulation diversity.
Adaptive control policies for safe and reliable elderly assistance.
AR/VR/MR technologies for cognitive support and rehabilitation.
Benchmark datasets and simulation environments for aging-focused robotics.
Human-centered and participatory design for eldercare robotics.
Cross-cultural adaptation of socially assistive robots.
Ethical, legal, and social implications of robotic caregiving.
Privacy-preserving methods in monitoring and cognitive support.
Policy and regulatory frameworks for deploying robots in eldercare.
Evaluation metrics for autonomy, independence, and well-being in later life.
Case studies of real-world deployment in care homes and home settings.
Industry–academia collaboration for healthcare robotics innovations.

We expect submissions with 2 - 8 pages for the main content, with no limit on references/appendices. Submissions are suggested to use the IEEE template. All papers will be peer-reviewed in a double-blind manner. We welcome both unpublished original contributions and recently published relevant works. Accepted papers will be presented in the form of posters, with several papers being selected for spotlight sessions. TWO Best Abstracts Award and TWO Best Presentation Award will be presented to honor exceptional contributions among the accepted submissions, with a cash prize of 100 US dollors for each award.

Submission methods:

1. submit via https://sites.google.com/view/robotic-for-aging-society

2. send it directly to the official email address and attach the paper PDF.

Special Feature – Roaming Mentors

We offer one-on-one guidance and feedback from senior researchers (speakers or organizers) to all students and early-career researchers participating in the poster session. We warmly encourage you to submit your work!

Important Dates