Rory Cooper spoke at the UN about AI-powered assistive technology

The University of Pittsburgh’s Rory Cooper spoke at the United Nations as part of the AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva, Switzerland on July 9. The esteemed Pitt innovator discussed how artificial intelligence is being deployed to fuel collaboration and improve the lives of people with disabilities, along with the challenges and ethical considerations of using AI in rehabilitation engineering.

Cooper’s talk highlighted several pieces of technology developed in the Human Engineering Research Laboratories (HERL), a joint venture between Pitt and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Cooper is the founding director and VA Senior Research Career Scientist at HERL and serves as Pitt’s assistant vice chancellor for research for STEM-health sciences collaborations.

The presentation featured a wheelchair that can traverse bumps, curbs and icy surfaces while keeping its user upright, a board game that teaches players about community mobility for mobility device users, a virtual coach that helps teach wheelchair users to use powered seat functions in real time, and the affordable, light-weight and fashionable Kirigami wheelchair.

Cooper has been using applied science to aid disabled veterans and other wheelchair users — both groups in which he counts himself — for more than 30 years. In addition to directing HERL, Cooper was elected to the National Academy of Engineering Class of 2024 and named to the U.S. Olympians and Paralympians Association’s Executive Committee the same year. In 2023, he was awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation and was inducted into National Inventors Hall of Fame.

AI for Good is the United Nations’ leading platform on artificial intelligence to solve global challenges. The summit is organized by the International Telecommunication Union in partnership with over 40 UN Sister Agencies and co-convened with the Government of Switzerland.

Photography by AI for Good