Overview

Horizon Europe SWEET is an ambitious research project focused on developing socially intelligent robots for healthcare and well-being applications. The project aims to create robotic systems that can understand and respond to human emotions, providing personalized support in various healthcare contexts.

Objectives

1. Develop emotionally intelligent robotic systems for healthcare applications
2. Create adaptive interaction strategies based on affective computing
3. Implement multi-modal emotion recognition (facial expressions, voice, physiology)
4. Evaluate robotic systems in real healthcare settings
5. Develop ethical guidelines for emotionally intelligent robots

Research Areas

Affective Computing

• Real-time emotion recognition
• Multi-modal sensor fusion
• Context-aware emotional responses

Social Robotics

• Natural human-robot interaction
• Personalized robotic behaviors
• Long-term adaptation and learning

Healthcare Applications

• Robot-assisted therapy
• Emotional support systems
• Healthcare companion robots

Technology Stack

• Affective Computing frameworks
• ROS 2 for robot control
• Machine Learning for behavior adaptation
• Computer Vision for emotion recognition
• Natural Language Processing for conversational interfaces

Expected Impact

The SWEET project aims to:

• Improve healthcare outcomes through emotionally intelligent robots
• Enhance patient engagement in therapeutic activities
• Reduce healthcare costs through robotic assistance
• Advance ethical AI in healthcare robotics

Current Status

The SWEET project is currently in its active research phase, with ongoing development and evaluation of robotic systems. The project team is actively seeking collaboration with healthcare professionals, researchers, and industry partners.