Convergence Human Mobility Center
Rethinking rehabilitation through accessible, technology-supported care at home
Demand for rehabilitation care is growing rapidly due to ageing populations and increasing numbers of people living with stroke, Parkinson’s disease and other mobility-related conditions. At the same time, rehabilitation remains labour-intensive and difficult to scale, while many patients experience barriers in accessing intensive rehabilitation support. Current rehabilitation models still rely heavily on in-clinic treatment. Many digital rehabilitation technologies also struggle to move beyond pilot settings into daily care practice and home use. Questions around usability, affordability, accessibility and integration into healthcare remain major challenges.
CHMC aims to support a shift towards more accessible, technology-supported rehabilitation that can help people continue recovery both inside and outside the clinic. Within the Convergence Health & Technology Flagship CHMC, researchers, clinicians and technology developers work together to develop practical, user-friendly and scalable rehabilitation solutions that fit daily life and rehabilitation practice.
What the Convergence Human Mobility Center Flagship works on
CHMC develops and studies minimally supervised rehabilitation approaches for home and blended-care settings. The Flagship combines rehabilitation medicine, robotics, wearable sensors, biomechanics, AI and behavioral sciences to develop practical and user-friendly rehabilitation technologies.
A central focus is not only whether technologies work technically, but whether they are usable, affordable and relevant in daily life and rehabilitation practice. Researchers work closely together with patients, therapists and rehabilitation professionals throughout development and evaluation. The Flagship focuses on: home-based and blended rehabilitation; wearable sensors and remote monitoring; rehabilitation robotics and VR; personalized motor rehabilitation; low-cost and accessible rehabilitation technology; movement analysis and biomechanics.
CHMC brings together expertise from Erasmus MC, TU Delft, Erasmus University Rotterdam and rehabilitation partners including Rijndam. Although the Flagship initially focuses on stroke rehabilitation, many approaches are also relevant for other neurological and musculoskeletal conditions that affect mobility and independence.
Featured story
Why the future of rehabilitation may be surprisingly simple
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Read the interview with CHMC leads Gerard Ribbers, Laura Marchal Crespo and Jane Murray Cramm on why simple, affordable home-based rehabilitation technology may be key to keeping rehabilitation care accessible. They discuss the need for transdisciplinary collaboration, innovations such as P-MATE, and ten factors that determine whether healthcare innovations actually land in daily practice. Click here to read the interview with the leads. |
Innovation highlights
Fizzy — interactive robotic rehabilitation ball
Fizzy is a soft robotic ball that stimulates movement, motivation and physical activity through playful interaction. The project combines robotics, rehabilitation medicine, behavioural sciences and human-robot interaction to explore how low-threshold technologies can support movement and rehabilitation in everyday environments. The current focus is on exploring potential applications, improving movement and interaction, and setting up an open-source platform that can also be used by other institutions for research and education.
P-MATE — low-cost gait rehabilitation system
P-MATE (Passive Mechanical Add-on for Treadmill Exercise) is a modular treadmill add-on developed to support gait rehabilitation. The system mechanically couples leg movement through elastic cables and pulleys and is designed as a lower-cost alternative that can potentially be used beyond specialized rehabilitation centers, including physiotherapy practices and community environments.
Portable Hand Trainer
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The Portable Hand Trainer is a compact rehabilitation device for hand and forearm training after stroke. Researchers are developing both an active robotic version and an ultra-low-cost passive version that can be combined with VR rehabilitation exercises and game-based training. The project focuses on usability, accessibility and scalable home-based rehabilitation
ArmCoach4Stroke
ArmCoach4Stroke explores how wearable technology and remote coaching can support upper-limb rehabilitation at home after stroke. The project combines remote monitoring, user-centered design and blended-care approaches to better connect rehabilitation exercises with patients’ daily routines and experiences.
Towards@HomeRehab
Towards@HomeRehab develops sensor-based and AI-supported methods to monitor arm movement and rehabilitation progress in daily life. The project focuses on unobtrusive monitoring, personalized feedback and remote rehabilitation support, while also studying how patients and therapists can realistically integrate these technologies into home-based care.
GaitVision
GaitVision focuses on sensor-based gait analysis and movement monitoring for rehabilitation and mobility assessment. The project contributes to the development of accessible motion analysis approaches that can support rehabilitation practice outside specialized motion labs.
CloudWalker
CloudWalker is an affordable and lightweight lower-limb exoskeleton designed to support walking and rehabilitation for people with spinal cord injury. The project combines robotics, biomechanics and rehabilitation research with a focus on minimally supervised use and accessibility.
KASPER
KASPER develops an innovative lower-limb prosthetic system aimed at supporting people who experience difficulty standing and moving independently. The project explores how assistive technologies can improve mobility and support daily functioning in rehabilitation settings.
Personalized rehabilitation through motor learning and AI
The Flagship studies how personality traits, motor learning capacity and individual characteristics influence rehabilitation outcomes. Using large-scale datasets and AI-supported analyses, researchers aim to better personalize rehabilitation strategies and training approaches for different patient groups.
Flagship News: Convergence Human Mobility Center
Policy & societal impact
CHMC contributes to the transition towards more accessible and scalable rehabilitation care, particularly in response to growing workforce pressure and increasing demand for home-based rehabilitation. The Flagship studies not only rehabilitation technology itself, but also the practical barriers that affect implementation in daily care, including reimbursement, usability and integration into rehabilitation pathways.
Examples include research on home-based rehabilitation technology adoption, participation in discussions with the Dutch Ministry of Health and insurer networks, and work on blended-care approaches for stroke rehabilitation. The Flagship also explores how low-cost rehabilitation technologies could support rehabilitation beyond specialized clinics, for example in physiotherapy practices, community settings and local gyms.
Partners & ecosystem
CHMC is a collaboration between Erasmus MC, TU Delft, Erasmus University Rotterdam and rehabilitation partners including Rijndam Rehabilitation and Laurens. The Flagship also works together with industry partners, implementation experts and international research networks focused on rehabilitation technology and home-based care.
Collaborations include partners such as SenseGlove, Hankamp, Robotimize and Movella, as well as European initiatives around wearable monitoring and rehabilitation technology. Patients, therapists and rehabilitation professionals are actively involved through co-creation workshops, usability testing and implementation studies.
Education & talent development
CHMC contributes to interdisciplinary education at the intersection of rehabilitation, healthcare and technology. Students, PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers work across clinical, engineering and social science domains, often in close collaboration with rehabilitation practice.
The Flagship supports thesis projects, workshops, guest lectures and innovation activities focused on rehabilitation robotics, VR, wearable sensing and human-centered design.
Looking ahead
In the coming years, CHMC aims to further validate and translate several rehabilitation technologies into real-world rehabilitation settings. Planned next steps include clinical testing and implementation activities around projects such as ArmCoach4Stroke, Towards@HomeRehab, the Portable Hand Trainer, P-MATE and Fizzy.
The Flagship will continue working on remote monitoring, wearable sensing, personalized rehabilitation and blended-care pathways, while further strengthening collaborations with rehabilitation centres, companies and implementation partners. Several projects are also exploring scalable and lower-cost deployment models, including open-source approaches and applications outside highly specialized clinical environments.
A continued focus will remain on balancing technological innovation with usability, safety, accessibility and practical implementation in healthcare systems.
