ETRI Wins IDEA Design Award with Medical Humanoid Interface 'NAMI.I'
Published2026.09.29 09:51
Medical Field Demonstration at Keimyung University Dongsan Hospital, Medical Staff Task-Directive-Based Interface Design
The IDEA Design Awards is counted among the world's three major design awards.
ETRI, following consecutive awards in 2024 for the teach pendant software (SW) of the autonomous mobile collaborative robot 'MOBY' at the German 'iF Design Awards' and the IDEA Design Awards, has achieved its second IDEA award in the field of user-centered robot interfaces with this recognition.
Users can request tasks such as △transportation of goods and medications △organization of medical supplies △patient guidance △patient daily living assistance, and can check the robot's current status and work progress in real time.
ETRI stated that lowering the barrier to entry for medical staff using robots can increase the possibility of humanoid robots being applied to actual medical facilities.
The development of NAMI.I involved ETRI postdoctoral researcher Ahn Ji-hoon and Dr. Dong Ji-yeon, as well as Dr. Lee Jun-ho and Manager Um Jin-yong from ㈜Neuromeka, and researchers from Korea University's CO Design Lab.
The plan is to analyze convenience, improvement points, and user requirements that emerge in the field, reflect them in the interface, and advance it through human-robot interaction (HRI) technology.
Currently, the research team is developing commercialization technology for medical auxiliary humanoid mobile robots together with ㈜Neuromeka, Georgia Institute of Technology in the United States, and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) through joint R&D with the Global Industrial Technology Cooperation Center of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT).
Meanwhile, according to market research firm MarketsandMarkets, the global humanoid robot market is projected to grow from approximately 5.4 billion dollars in 2026 to approximately 50.3 billion dollars in 2035, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28.1%.
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