The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Inventions boom in ‘assistive tech’ offers wider benefits for all
Rapid growth in innovations that are designed to help people overcome their disabilities could soon offer a fix to all manner of mobility, sight and other difficulties, UN patent experts WIPO said on Tuesday.
After double-digit growth in the sector in recent years, the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organization said that “assistive technologies" are increasingly finding their way into mass-market consumer applications.
The result offers the possibility of greater autonomy for users in negotiating their environment, work and home life.
“Currently, an estimate of one billion people around the world benefit from an assistive technology. That figure is expected to double by 2030 as the population ages,” said Marco Aleman, Assistant Director General, IP (Intellectual Property) and Innovations Ecosystem Sector.
In addition to improvements in established products, including wheelchair seats or wheels that can be adjusted for difficult terrain, environmental alarms and Braille-enabled devices, WIPO said that “emerging assistive” devices grew three times faster between 2013-2017, with a 17 per cent average annual growth rate.
Products in this sector include assistive robots, smart home applications and wearable products for visually impaired people and smart glasses according to the WIPO Technology Trends Report 2021: Assistive Technologies.
Other emerging products that are expected to catch on include advanced walking aids such as balancing aids and “smart” canes, advanced prosthetics – including neuroprosthetics, smart and 3D printed prosthetics - and wearable “exoskeleton suits” for the lower and upper body, to help with lifting chores and improve mobility.
“The assistive technology came from the military applications and now we see increasing applications in manufacturing and industry, so it helps people enhance their power, they can carry more weight, so that we already see,” noted Irene Kitsara, Industrial Property Information Officer, IP and Innovations Ecosystem Sector at WIPO.
By 2030, the WIPO official maintained that “it will be a reality (to see) more advancements in (the) brain-to-machine interface…which allow us to control different devices: computers, mobile phones”.
Help is also much more widely available than previously for people with hearing difficulties, thanks to recent technology advances in “environment-controlling and mind-controlled hearing aids, with cochlear implants accounting for nearly half of patent filings.
The areas of greatest growth in hearing are in non-invasive bone conduction devices (31 per cent annual growth), WIPO said.
“Now we see over-the-head - the counter - hearing aids, which are (US health regulator) FDA-approved in the States, which is considered a consumer electronic good, but it can serve people who are not considered persons with a functional limitation as such but who would not otherwise benefit from a hearing aid,” said Irene Kitsara.
The same transformation of conventional products into “smart” devices is also set to reach the personal health care sector, with innovations including “smart diapers and feeding assistant robots”, WIPO maintained.
“We can use the same applications for digital health and better health,” continued Kitsara. “As a result of that we can see more products, we can see increased competition, and something that was considered to be a niche area and a specialized product with very high prices, it starts going down.”
China, the US, Germany, Japan and the Republic of Korea are the five main origins of innovation in assistive technology, patent data filings show.
“When it comes to universities and public research centres, Chinese universities dominate the top,” said Aleman. “If we take the top 100 applicants among the 25 universities and research centres, 20 are Chinese, two American, one Korean, one from the Russian Federation and one from Japan.”
ends
STORY: Assistive Technology Boom - WIPO
TRT: 2 min 24s
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 23 MARCH 2021 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior wide shot, Palais des Nations flag alley, nations’ flags flying, a sunny day.
- Medium shot, podiums with speakers.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Marco Aleman, Assistant Director General, IP and Innovations Ecosystem Sector: “Currently, an estimate of one billion people around the world benefit from an assistive technology. That figure is expected to double by 2030 as the population ages.”
- Exterior wide shot, UN building, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Irene Kitsara, Industrial Property Information Officer, IP and Innovations Ecosystem Sector: “The assistive technology came from the military applications and now we see increasing applications in manufacturing and industry, so it helps people enhance their power, they can carry more weight, so that we already see.”
- Exterior wide shot, peacock in foreground and Palais des Nations garden to rear.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Irene Kitsara, Industrial Property Information Officer, IP and Innovations Ecosystem Sector: “In 10 years’ time, I think it will be a reality that we will have a refined, more advancements in brain-machine interface, there is a lot of interest there for a lot of communication products, so we expect to see more and more products in that field which allow us to control different devices: computers, mobile phones.”
- Exterior medium shot, Palais des Nations flag alley, nations’ flags flying.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Marco Aleman, Assistant Director General, IP and Innovations Ecosystem Sector: “When it comes to universities and public research centres, Chinese universities dominate the top. If we take the top 100 applicants among the 25 universities and research centres, 20 are Chinese, two American, one Korean, one from the Russian Federation and one from Japan.”
- Exterior wide shot, Palais des Nations flag alley, side shot.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Irene Kitsara, Industrial Property Information Officer, IP and Innovations Ecosystem Sector: “Now we see over-the-head - the counter - hearing aids, which are FDA-approved in the States, which is considered a consumer electronic good, but it can serve people who are not considered persons with a functional limitation as such but who would not otherwise benefit from a hearing aid.”
- Exterior medium shot, Palais des Nations flag alley.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Irene Kitsara, Industrial Property Information Officer, IP and Innovations Ecosystem Sector: “We can use the same applications for digital health and better health, and so, as a result of that we can see more products, we can see increased competition, and something that was considered to be a niche area and a specialized product with very high prices, it starts going down.”
- Exterior wide shot, Palais des Nations flag alley, nations’ flags flying.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
Institutionalised forced labour by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea constitutes grave violations of human rights – UN report
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Time is running out for starving civilians in Sudan, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday, while talks involving the country’s warring parties continue in Geneva this week.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
DRC faces a severe humanitarian crisis with 25M in need and rising conflict-related issues.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
A gimmer of good news emerged from Gaza on Tuesday as patients returned to at a newly reopened UN health centre in Khan Younis, six months after it was severely damaged and forced to close by heavy fighting, the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) said.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN condemns attacks on Kyiv hospitals, calls for immediate action to protect civilians.
1
1
2
Edited News | WHO
In Gaza, soaring temperatures, hunger and unsanitary conditions present an ever more deadly threat to a population under constant attack, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WMO , IFRC
Hurricane Beryl smashes into Caribbean, turns sights on Mexico As Hurricane Beryl’s destructive path shifted to Mexico on Friday after roiling the Caribbean, UN agencies and partners said that the emergency response was underway, before warning that a very long and damaging hurricane season looks increasingly likely.
1
1
2
Edited News | IOM , mcc , UNHCR
Refugees and migrants continue to face extreme forms of violence, exploitation and death on sea and on land across Africa as they attempt to leave the continent, UN agencies said on Friday, in an appeal to border authorities to do more to protect them.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk at the 56th Human Rigths Council, made the following update on the situation of human rights in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , WHO
New evacuation orders issued by the Israeli army for areas in southern Gaza are expected to impact 250,000 people, including eastern Khan Younis and Rafah, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , WHO
Gaza: People are desperate, they need everything, says UN aid agency Panic and desperation now grip ordinary Gazans struggling to survive, UN humanitarians said on Friday, amid fuel shortages of fuel and dwindling supplies that have prevented aid teams from doing their job.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA
UN aid teams and partner organizations remain deeply committed to delivering lifesaving supplies into Gaza, despite the increasing dangers of working there, the Organization’s top aid official said on Wednesday.