A royal visit; Prince William impressed by University of Bristol X UWE tech developments

Thursday 22nd January marked a very exciting day for both the University of Bristol and the University of the West of England as the Prince of Wales travelled down from Kensington Palace to learn about the developments both universities are making in the world of AI and technology. The Bristol Tab were invited to join the press at the event.

Despite pouring rain, the Prince greeted students, researchers and entrepreneurs at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory with a smile and seemed keen to learn about the partnership between the University of Bristol and the University of the West of England. The prince was shown how technology is being leveraged to assist the ageing and disabled population in maintaining activity, physical health, and mental well-being at home.

The first stop for the prince at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory was the VIVO hub which aims to create integrated user-guided technology to assist mobility. HRH experimented with their walker that uses cutting-edge technology to guide those reliant on it. The Prince also spoke to two PHD students who were researching the use of automative orthotics to aide movement and prevent muscle degeneration.

After greeting and commending the cleaners on their work to keep the Laboratory spotless, the Prince was introduced to Tom and Emily Morgan who are the founders of Supersmith, a startup determined to refashion, and in doing so, destigmatise mobility scooters. The prince got the chance to whizz around on the 3Scooter which is a light, foldable scooter that has leveraged EverLevel technology to reduce the problem of tipping. The scooter enables it’s users to sit at eye level to those around them, the Prince wished the couple ‘good luck’ with their venture and commented ‘it’s very exciting.’

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The prince was also introduced to Dr Zeke Steer, the founder of Milbotix, a Bristol-based company that creates accurate, AI-enabled wearable devices embedded in everyday items of clothing for use in research, social care and healthcare. The Prince learnt about their first family of products, SmartSocks. The socks contain e-textile and silicon sensors measuring pulse, temperature, sweat and motion.

It was clear The Prince was impressed and inspired by the technological developments in Bristol Robotics Laboratory that could make a vital difference to the elder generation and people living with mobility impairments in the country. The developments could also work to ease the pressures on social care.

After the visit, the Bristol Tab spoke to Professor Judith Squires, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost of the University of Bristol, who was evidently excited by the royal visit. When asked about the 10-year-old partnership between the University of Bristol and UWE and the shared Bristol Robotics Laboratory, she spoke of the excitement of ‘working together’ and how it would only benefit students at both universities to form an excellent footbed for exciting Bristol-based technological development.

When asked about the visit from HRH the Prince of Wales, Professor Squires said it was ‘wonderful’ and she could recognise how the visit would be personally exciting and engaging for the prince who has been vocal on issues from mental health to Alzheimers.