Social Events

Social Events


  • (Ki)wi can do it! Let’s (Man)go!: Meeting with Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) and the University of Hong Kong (HKU)
    (Ki)wi can do it! Let’s (Man)go!: Meeting with Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) and the University of Hong Kong (HKU) “The LOVOT Team met together on Zoom to discuss project updates, analysis progress, and plans for upcoming events. Dr. Hung, Hiro, Joey, and Karen also met with our collaborators from… Read more: (Ki)wi can do it! Let’s (Man)go!: Meeting with Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) and the University of Hong Kong (HKU)
  • LOVOT at West Vancouver Memorial Library
    LOVOT at West Vancouver Memorial Library On September 13th, our LOVOT Social Robot Study team held a Tech Talk at the West Vancouver Memorial Library. Our team presented some of our key learnings from the study and shared the potential of social robots like LOVOT to facilitate social connection and bring… Read more: LOVOT at West Vancouver Memorial Library
  • LOVOT Robots Making a Splash in the News!
    LOVOT Robots Making a Splash in the News! Our social robot, LOVOT, has received much media attention this past week! It is featured on CBC radio, Global, Glacier media, OMNI, Fairchild, CTV news. The robots were designed to spread joy; they promote engagement and connection for older adults. We welcome… Read more: LOVOT Robots Making a Splash in the News!
  • Project leads dinner
    Project leads dinner Project Leads appreciation dinner! Thanks to Dr.Hung, Sophie, and Bubli in organizing in this! Look how happy everyone is!❤️
  • LOVOT Community Engagement Events
    The LOVOT team recently embarked on a heartwarming journey that brought joy, connection, and innovation to our local communities. Our beloved social robots, Kiwi and Mango, made delightful visits to various community spaces, leaving an enchanting impact on everyone they met. From the cozy atmosphere of Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House… Read more: LOVOT Community Engagement Events
  • Tai Chi Session with Halcyon!
    In a quest for holistic well-being, our lab recently embarked on a Tai Chi journey led by Halcyon, a visiting international research student from China. Against the backdrop of UBC Hospital, an afternoon session unfolded, highlighting the graceful convergence of mind and body. With expertise and grace, Halcyon introduced us… Read more: Tai Chi Session with Halcyon!
  • Hiking Social to the Lighthouse Park
    Hiking Social to the Lighthouse Park On July 30th, Olivia led a hiking event for lab members and patient partners. We went to the lighthouse park and visited beautiful trails. After the hike, we went to JJ’s kitchen to have a team lunch! 🧡😊
  • Taichi session at Cleveland Dam
    Taichi session at Cleveland Dam It’s a beautiful day for some outdoor work with the lab !Our lab members Charlie, Halcyon, and our patient partner Mario are having a blast filming taichi at Cleveland dam for our virtual reality project 🙂
  • Happy Mother’s Day!
    Happy Mother’s Day! From the IDEA Lab 🙂 IDEA Lab members visit their respective research sites of their projects to show appreciation for the fantastical women that make research possible and the ones who are everyday heroes in our community’s care homes! Below is a gallery of this day!
  • April 29th, 2023: IDEA Lab In-Person Social
    April 29th, 2023: IDEA Lab In-Person Social IDEA Lab hosted a lab-wide social on April 29th. We are so grateful for each of our lab members that make our research in innovation and promotion of the health of peoples living with dementia possible. We also had so much fun among… Read more: April 29th, 2023: IDEA Lab In-Person Social
  • Projecting VR Videos
    We were able to project our VR videos, which no longer require goggles. By making the videos more accessible, we hope to ensure that residents, family and staff have both an immersive and enjoyable experience! Thank you Dr. Hung for supporting our students Winnie and Mona, pictured below.
  • Telerobot visits their research site – March 9th
    Telerobot visits their research site – March 9th On March the 9th, our Telerobot team visited their research site again to visit. Read below to see some of their highlights! The team interviewed a resident whose daughter enjoys using the telerobot to talk to her father across Canada. Last visit,… Read more: Telerobot visits their research site – March 9th
  • Telerobot Research Site Visit
    From January the 20th to February the 17th, the Telerobot Team visited one of their research sites to interview new residents and their families! They also took the time to hand out keychains to residents, staff members supporting the telerobot implementation, and the staff champions.
  • Virtual Reality Team’s Staff Huddle
    IDEA Lab’s Virtual Reality Team visited a long-term care site on February 16th for a brief team huddle and training session with the resident care assistants. Here’s a photo of the staff working with our VR team!
  • VR Movie Night
    On January 8th, we had a movie night in our VR room. We watched Soul and enjoyed great food! The video and audio effects of our newly installed projectors were fantastic! Our lab members had so much fun together!
  • How virtual reality technology is being used to combat loneliness among long term care home residents
    See our project: Virtual Reality Program in Long Term Care on Global News (December 19th, 2022)!
  • Burnaby Dementia Friendly Café
    On December 8th and 16th, some of our IDEA Lab members co-led an event at Burnaby Dementia Friendly Café aimed at building social connection! We enjoyed live music, danced, conversed and enjoyed lunch! We also reflected on the importance of engaging people with lived-experience in research.
  • IDEA Lab Holiday Party 2022
    On December 3rd, we were joined by students, staff and patient and family partners for our monthly meeting and holiday party! It was filled with team bonding, food, games, gifts, laughter and of course important project updates. We even played freeze dance using our silent disco headphones!
  • Telerobot Staff Huddle
    On November 30, our team members Lily, Joey and Sophie, hosted a huddle at one of our long-term care sites. We presented our plans for Phase 3 of our study to staff, who showed keen interest in supporting us with participant identification and data collection. We really appreciate their support!
  • CHÉOS Knowledge Translation Article
    On November 28th, CHÉOS published an article in collaboration with IDEA Lab regarding starting a lab Twitter account. This article was co-authored by Maddie Ongena- one of our lab members at IDEA Lab, with support from Dr. Hung. It discusses Twitter’s potential as a knowledge translation resource and provides insight on how to run a lab account. In the article, you’ll see what a typical day looks like running our Twitter account.
  • Silent Disco Christmas Party
    On November 28th, the Silent Disco Team visited a long-term care home and hosted a Christmas Party for residents and staff! Everyone enjoyed listening to Christmas music and dancing with one another. From this experience, we learned just how powerful music can be. One resident showed up to the party with a walk assist but shortly after the music started, they stood up and danced for half an hour without needing a break!
  • VR Training Session
    The VR team recently started their bi-weekly huddles with staff champions at both of our long-term care sites. The huddles are important for learning about their valuable front-line experiences using the VR with residents. The plan is to work collaboratively and implement a facilitation plan that is inclusive, open and fun for everyone involved!
  • Telerobot Staff Check-In
    On September 16th, our Telerobot Team visited one of our long-term care sites to provide further support and answer any questions the staff had regarding the robot. These check-ins help the staff to better support the connection between residents and family members.
  • VR Project Findings Presentation
    On September 22nd, the Virtual Reality (VR) Team went to one of our long-term care sites to present their research dissemination from summer focus groups. They brought IDEA Lab swag and boba, and had a very engaging session talking about the project with staff!
  • September Monthly Meeting
    On September 24th, our team met both in person and virtually for our monthly meeting. We enjoyed some tasty food and heard project updates from all of our team leads. We had such a blast and enjoyed hearing from everyone! It was so nice to see students, staff, patient and family partners in person again!
  • Outstanding Awards 2022
    Outstanding Awards 2022 This year, we are so excited to announce Sophie Yang as the recipient of the Outstanding Award. We’d like to recognize Sophie for all her hard work and dedication in the lab! Having recently stepped into the role of Lab Manager, she has shown tremendous leadership. From… Read more: Outstanding Awards 2022
  • Telerobot Training
    Telerobot Training On August 25th, our Telerobot Team headed to a long-term care site where they ran a staff training session. The goal of the session was to familiarize staff with the robot and answer any questions they had regarding the robots. The training session took the form of a… Read more: Telerobot Training
  • Telepresence Robot Training
    Telepresence Robot Training On August 18th, our Telepresence Robot Team had a very busy day conducting several conversational interviews and staff training sessions at long-term care homes. The conversational interviews allow us to hear feedback from both residents and family members. Our training groups were instrumental in staff engagement, involving… Read more: Telepresence Robot Training
  • Virtual Reality Focus Group
    Virtual Reality Focus Group On August 18th, our VR group headed to one of our long-term care sites to review feedback and questions from staff focus groups. Our team presented the main findings from the focus groups and updated staff on our project plan. We had bubble tea and other… Read more: Virtual Reality Focus Group
  • Silent Disco Party
    Silent Disco Party On August 15th, we visited a long-term care site to host a party using our silent disco headphones. We brought two magic disco balls and distributed 57 headsets to residents, family members and staff to enjoy! Residents and staff had the chance to try out the headphones… Read more: Silent Disco Party
  • Technology Bringing Families Closer Together
    Technology Bringing Families Closer Together On August 10th, we spoke to a resident from a long-term care facility and his daughters about their experience using the telepresence robot. They said the robot has made it easy and convenient to visit their father every day. One family member even joined us… Read more: Technology Bringing Families Closer Together
  • Telerobot Staff Training
    Telerobot Staff Training On August 4th, the staff at one of our Long Term Care sites were trained using a new staff engagement strategy. The strategy was aimed at reinforcing robot use in several long-term care sites. A game was created using questions, answers, and prizes to make things interactive and interesting for the staff. The… Read more: Telerobot Staff Training
  • VR Demonstration at Little Mountain Place
    VR Demonstration at Little Mountain Place On August 3rd, we visited Little Mountain Place and introduced the Virtual Reality (VR) project to the care home. We brought the VR equipment and had over 23 staff and residents in total experienced the 360° immersive world for themselves! We shared our gratitude… Read more: VR Demonstration at Little Mountain Place
  • THANK YOU Sarah and Nina!
    THANK YOU Sarah and Nina! End of July 2022 marked the completion of the 12-week internship of Sarah and Nina at IDEA Lab. We appreciate the wonderful works they have done, from contributing the to research with unique perspectives, to a number of amazing Knowledge Translation (KT) outputs. We will… Read more: THANK YOU Sarah and Nina!
  • We are recognized by CHÉOS!
    We are recognized by CHÉOS! Today (July 27, 2022), Centre for Health Evaluation & Outcome Sciences (CHÉOS) promoted our efforts in Knowledge Translation (KT) on Twitter! IDEAL Lab sincerely appreciates the great contribution made by EVERY MEMBER and PARTNER, without which we could not be so accomplished! We will continue… Read more: We are recognized by CHÉOS!
  • Summer Picnic
    Summer Picnic We hope you have enjoyed this beautiful weekend like we did! It was time to get together and enjoy the sunny vibes with a picnic at Cooper’s Park. We are happy that we got together and enjoyed Downtown area. There was lots of food, nice talks and good… Read more: Summer Picnic
  • Father’s Day 2022
    Father’s Day 2022 We wish everyone a happy Sunday and want to tell you that we are celebrating Father’s Day with you. That is why we created some personal cards and little presents to show our acknowledgment, appreciation and to say thank you! Here are some pictures of Father’s Day… Read more: Father’s Day 2022
  • Team Event: Hiking Day at Lynn Canyon
    Team Event: Hiking Day at Lynn Canyon Here are some pictures of our hike at Lynn Canyon last month! We care not only about our patients, Patient Partner’s but also about our team – that’s why we want to feel like a team and work together as a team. Afterwards… Read more: Team Event: Hiking Day at Lynn Canyon
  • Outstanding Awards 2022
    Outstanding Awards 2022 As an annual recognition of their dedicated work and effort our Lab Members are daily presenting, we want to announce that we are creating a survey where you can vote for your Lab Member that should get rewarded. Our members work consistently and with high effort and… Read more: Outstanding Awards 2022
  • UBC IDEA Lab x UBC PATHS IDEAthon
    UBC IDEA Lab x UBC PATHS IDEAthon Get the opportunity to compete in our beginner friendly case competition to learn about neurodegenerative diseases and the patient care aspect associated with them. Lillian Hung’s IDEA Lab and UBC PATHS are collaborating to put on this case competition sponsored by the Alzheimer’s… Read more: UBC IDEA Lab x UBC PATHS IDEAthon
  • Outstanding Awards 2021
    Outstanding Awards 2021 Recognizing our members for their work and efforts is the key to our success, we introduce the Outstanding Awards as an annual recognition of our members for their extraordinary work and dedication. Winners are the top nominated members in a survey that is distributed and filled anonymously.… Read more: Outstanding Awards 2021
  • Spooky Halloween
    Spooky Halloween We shared the Halloween trick and treat with the LTC residents and staff. our team enjoyed trick and treating patients and staff on different care homes sites. VGH Dorothy dressed as a spooky cat, Paris dressed as a bat, Charlie and Joey participated remotely with help of Dorothy… Read more: Spooky Halloween
  • Happy Thanksgiving
    Happy Thanksgiving Thank you to our heroes at Vancouver General Hospital LTC; we made a thanksgiving card and brought some treats. Healthcare professionals at LTC in Vancouver General Hospital help us conduct several research projects, e.g., the Telepresence project and Happy2eat project. We appreciate the hard work of all healthcare… Read more: Happy Thanksgiving
  • What Matters Study Recruitment
    “What matters” will be an easy-to-use app offering a personalized list of resources (music, videos and photographs) that will enable staff to deliver person-centred care. Anyone living with dementia and/or family caregivers are invited to participate. Deadline: July 23rd
  • AAIC Presentation
    IDEA Lab members Dr. Lillian Hung, Sophie Yang, and Jim Mann will virtually present our work on the Happy2Eat project at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) on July 26-30. Please come join us to learn more about this project!
  • Northern Health Conference Presentation
    Find out more about our Happy2Eat presentation at the 2021 Northern Health Conference, held June 9th and 10th, which focused on the compassion of long-term care staff throughout the pandemic!
  • UBC IDEA Lab Website Launch
    Welcome the new IDEA Lab website! Our lab aims to innovate in dementia care for older adults, often through the use of new technology. Our research is primarily patient-oriented and therefore we work closely with our many patient partners to improve outcomes of patients. Here’s an overview of how our… Read more: UBC IDEA Lab Website Launch