MBZUAI to showcase assistive AI technologies at GITEX 2025

Imagine struggling to reach for a glass of water or read the label on a medicine box. For millions of elderly or visually impaired people, these obstacles define daily life. At GITEX 2025, hosted at Dubai World Trade Center between October 13–17, MBZUAI will show how frontier AI could change that reality.

A team of the University’s researchers, led by Hisham Cholakkal, Assistant Professor of Computer Vision, along with his team members Jaseel Muhammad (Research Engineer), Mohammed Irfan K (Ph.D. student), Sahal Shaji Mullappilly (Ph.D. student), Jean Lahoud (Research Scientist), and Sambal Shikar (Research Engineer), will present two prototypes of multimodal AI wearable technologies at GITEX.

In the first prototype, Cholakkal and his team – whose research on multimodal LLM for smart wearables has received international recognitions, including a Meta Regional Research Grant 2025 – will present the integration of a smart glass with a camera and eye tracker, combined with a multimodal large language model (LLM).

The team will showcase smart glasses fitted with a camera that can instantly identify objects in a room, including verifying the correct medication. This capability could reduce medical errors, improve patient safety, and bring confidence back to everyday routines.

In the second prototype, the team will present the integration of multimodal AI with a portable brain–computer interface (BCI) device and robotics. The team will use brain signals to control the walking speed of a robotic dog – representing the possibility of hands-free, speech-free communication for people with severe mobility limitations.

Both prototypes aim to bring together multimodal AI, smart wearables, robotics, and BCI, with the broader goal to restore independence and dignity for vulnerable populations while easing the burden on caregivers.

For policymakers and healthcare leaders, the research also speaks to a pressing global problem: how to provide cost-effective care for rapidly aging populations. While for engineers and technologists, it highlights the complexities of fusing multimodal AI, robotics, and brain signals in real time.

“GITEX is a chance for us to show what happens when cutting-edge AI research meets real human need,” said Cholakkal. “These prototypes are stepping stones towards a future where machines can understand intent, context, and environment in ways that directly improve people’s lives.

“For MBZUAI, the significance is twofold: we’re advancing the science of multimodal AI, and at the same time addressing one of the most urgent challenges of our time – how to care for rapidly aging societies with compassion, efficiency, and dignity. This is where research translates into impact.”

MBZUAI’s presence at GITEX underscores the UAE’s ambition to place AI at the center of practical, human-focused solutions. By demonstrating the early building blocks of a larger vision, the University is showing how AI can move beyond the lab and into the service of everyday life.