A towering 'body-swap' robot built by University of British Columbia researchers is giving scientists an unprecedented look at how the brain keeps us standing -- a skill we barely notice until affected by age or disease, when bigger lags in sensory feedback make it harder to stay balanced.
A participant stands in UBC's robotic balance platform, a research device designed to mimic and alter the forces involved in human standing balance. (Credit: Sachi Wickramasinghe)
Their findings, published on November 26 in Science Robotics with collaborators at Erasmus MC, reveal that to stay balanced, the brain treats delays in sensory feedback almost the same way it handles changes in body mechanics. In other words, the brain interprets space and time in similar ways to maintain balance.
When nerve signals slow, there's no simple way to speed them up. "What's exciting is that our finding suggests we can help in another way -- by giving the body a small mechanical boost that makes balance easier for the brain," said Dr. Jean-Sébastien Blouin, senior author and professor in UBC's School of Kinesiology. "This opens the door to designing assistive devices or rehab strategies for older adults, and humanoid robots that can balance better."
