Though called an optimization algorithm, Slade described it as closer to a “personalization” algorithm, in that it uses personal data to optimize the netbet sport to the individual patient. And because it’s based on machine learning algorithms, the optimal adjustments can be found quickly and without an engineer needing to pour through multiple potential designs.

“One challenge in the field of robotics is that people often get treated as robots,” Slade said. “People are complex and often don’t respond to netbet sport assistance in a predictable way. This paper is posing the idea that a lot of our research intuitions on human-robot interaction aren’t great because people are very complex. If we admit that, we can use this systematic approach to optimize assistance and really accelerate the field. Adopting HILO would really accelerate the field, and patients would see more benefits.”

Slade envisions HILO as especially valuable in the earliest netbet sport stages, when research is still being done in labs as opposed to field testing finished or nearly finished designs. During those early stages, engineers typically test out numerous different designs and functions to try to hone in on one that meets whatever they determine to be the most important performance metrics. Examples of metrics in medical devices, for example, include muscle contraction,fatigue, walking speed, heart rate, blood glucose levels, or other measures of improved mobility.

Using HILO algorithms, designers could quickly determine if a netbet sport needs to be adjusted based on individual patient data to maximize its benefit.

“HILO allows you to identify the meaningful interactions, then build a portable netbet sport based on what you’ve learned,” he said. “Rather than building multiple interactions of a portable netbet sport, you could do it in a single shot, which could help accelerate the field.”

Conversely, Slade’s perspective suggests even late-stage netbet sport or products already on the market could still benefit from these optimization algorithms. HILO is similar to getting a glasses prescription, systematically tuning the human-robot interaction to achieve a desired outcome, similar to a new prescription.

“You have a netbet sport, you optimize the controller, and now you have a more personalized controller and see better benefits,” he said. “We’ve seen from a few studies that existing portable devices can double their performance if you apply HILO. It’s the same hardware – you just update the controller, and all of a sudden your netbet sport is twice as effective. That’s exciting. You could spend years developing something, and then all of a sudden double the performance just by systematically tuning the human-robot interaction.”