News
RASL’s Socially Assistive Robotics Project which Compares the Benefits of Animatronics Compared with Humanoids was Highlighted in Fortune
Aug. 24, 2022—“Isolation during the pandemic highlighted how harmful loneliness can be. This sped up development of tech solutions, says Nilanjan Sarkar, an engineering professor at Vanderbilt University. One area of rapid advancement has been artificial intelligence for companion robots. Today’s A.I.-enhanced robots have improved stereo vision to sense the shape and location of objects, and they...
NSF Funding Received to Study Precursors of Problem Behaviors in Children with Autism
Aug. 24, 2022—The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a Smart and Connected Health Grant* to VKC researchers Nilanjan Sarkar, Ph.D., (Principal Investigator), Amy Weitlauf, Ph.D., (Co-PI, TRIAD associate director of Research) and John Staubitz, M.Ed., BCBA (TRIAD associate director of Behavior Analysis) to develop and study the use of wearable technology to identify precursors of challenging behaviors in individuals with disabilities,...
RASL PhD students Akshith Ullal and Alexandra Watkins have won the “Best student paper award” at the 2021 IEEE Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality (AIVR) conference
Nov. 23, 2021—RASL PhD students Akshith Ullal and Alexandra Watkins have won the “Best student paper award” for their paper titled “A Dynamically Weighted Multi-Objective Optimization Approach to Positional Interactions in Remote-Local Augmented/Mixed Reality” at the 2021 IEEE Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality (AIVR) conference held at Taichung, Taiwan. Their paper was also selected as one of the...
Vanderbilt’s research towards neurodiversity in the workplace-including work at RASL- featured in 60 Minutes on CBS
Oct. 12, 2020—Vanderbilt’s efforts towards the development of systems to facilitate the recruitment of talent on the Autism Spectrum was featured in the 60 Minutes episode that aired on 4th October on CBS News. Anderson Cooper led the reporting on the story. Check out the full episode on CBS’s website or see the neurodiversity segment on YouTube. Among the research...
Vanderbilt leads $5 million project to revolutionize neurodiverse employment through AI
Sep. 10, 2020—The National Science Foundation has awarded a highly competitive $5 million grant to Vanderbilt University that greatly expands a School of Engineering-led project for creating novel AI technology and tools and platforms that train and support individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder in the workplace. The significant federal investment follows a successful $1 million, nine-month pilot...
Vanderbilt, Ohio State receive $3.1M NIH grant to develop social robots to encourage activity among older adults
Sep. 4, 2020—Researchers from Vanderbilt University and The Ohio State University are teaming up to develop next-generation robotic technology that can help older adults living with forms of dementia through a grant from the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health. The five-year grant, totaling $3.13 million, will support research and development of robotic...
RASL Director Nilanjan Sarkar named David K. Wilson Chair of Engineering
Feb. 28, 2020—Two engineering faculty members named to endowed chairs were honored for their academic achievements during a celebration Tuesday, Feb. 25, at the Student Life Center. They were among nine Vanderbilt faculty members who are recipients of chairs. The engineering professors are: Craig Duvall, Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair in Engineering Nilanjan Sarkar, David K. Wilson Chair in...
Sarkar will Lead New $1M Convergence Accelerator Project Funded by the National Science Foundation!
Sep. 11, 2019—RASL Director Dr. Nilanjan Sarkar will serve as Principal Investigator of a new project entitled “Convergence Accelerator Phase I: Empowering Neurodiverse Populations for Employment through Inclusion AI and Innovation Science.” The project is part of a brand new funding mechanism from the National Science Foundation called the NSF Convergence Accelerator (C-Accel). This mechanism is designed to rapidly...
Robot-guided video game for older adults is a featured story by Vanderbilt Research News
Mar. 19, 2019—Vanderbilt Research News published a new story this week on the work of RASL members Jing Fan, Nilanjan Sarkar, and Lorraine Mion. See the full story here and watch the video below.
RASL Director Nilanjan Sarkar New Chair of Mechanical Engineering
Jun. 1, 2018—RASL Director Nilanjan Sarkar is the new chair of the department of Mechanical Engineering at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Sarkar accepted the position of chair beginning in the Spring semester 2018, following the distinguished tenure of Dr. Robert Pitz, who served as department chair for 18 years. More details are available here.
IntelliCane System is a Featured News Story
Feb. 15, 2018—Research News @ Vanderbilt published a story on Tuesday highlighting the IntelliCane technology developed at RASL. See the full story here.
Robot-mediated Intervention Research Featured on ABC News!
Mar. 31, 2017—Robot-mediated social skills intervention for children with autism is an area of research pioneered by RASL director Nilanjan Sarkar and Zachary Warren, executive director of the Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders (TRIAD). Their recent work on this topic was featured on ABC News this morning. See the full article here.
RASL Driving Simulator for Autism Research Featured on NBC News
Jul. 20, 2016—One of RASL’s ongoing projects was featured nationwide on NBC News this week. See the local coverage here, and Vandy Research News’s coverage below. This work has also been recognized by Autism Speaks (video above) and is discussed in detail in several publications: A Gaze-Contingent Adaptive Virtual Reality Driving Environment for Intervention in Individuals with Autism Spectrum...
Continued Media Exposure for RASL Research
Aug. 19, 2016—Vanderbilt Research News recently published an article on some of the autism intervention research going on at RASL. This story was also picked up by NBC News and broadcast nationally. Now the story has gained further exposure through the National Science Foundation’s Science360 News (video above) and through online web magazine STAT News here.