COMPUTER SCIENCE

Recently, two successful trials were conducted within the 6G-PATH research project, where nursing students and ambulance personnel tested a new form of remote healthcare education.

The aim was to investigate how next-generation communication technologies such as 5G, future 6G networks, edge computing, and cloud services can be used to create realistic and accessible learning environments for healthcare professionals.

How can apps and digital health services become easier to use for older adults and people with motor impairments? In his doctoral thesis, Bilal Maqbool in Computer Science has developed an AI-based method that can imitate user interactions and has investigated why usability testing is often a challenge.

”To create user-friendly systems, developers need to test their products with real users. This can be difficult, especially when the target group includes people with conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, reduced motor function, or other health challenges. Recruiting participants, obtaining ethical approvals, and conducting repeated tests require both time and resources”, he says.

AI that learns from people

Three units at Karlstad University – Electrical Engineering, DAMI and Computer Science – are part of the large-scale project Electrified Flexible Industry. The aim of the project is to develop solutions for a more flexible, resilient, digital and resource-efficient energy system.

Karlstad University’s role in the project is to develop AI-based solutions to enable companies to anticipate energy demand, prices and flexibility opportunities. This, in turn, will help companies reduce costs while contributing to a more sustainable energy system.

“We will combine AI with energy data to enable smarter decision-making around energy utilization,” says Andreas Theocharis, Associate Professor in Electrical Engineering and project leader for Karlstad University’s contribution to Electrified Flexible Industry.

Karlstad University has been awarded continued funding to further develop and expand the Swedish Graduate School for Cybersecurity (SIGS-CyberSec).

The initiative is one of three industrial graduate schools receiving support from the Knowledge Foundation (KK Foundation). 

– The new funding will enable the graduate school to recruit seven additional industrial doctoral students. The aim is to strengthen both research capacity and skills provision in cybersecurity for Swedish companies, a field where the demand for highly qualified expertise is growing rapidly, says Simone Fischer-Hübner, professor at Computer Science and Project Manager for SIGS-CyberSec.

The EU-funded project PIONEERS-6G (Platform and Device Innovations for Energy-Efficient, Resilient, and Secure 6G IoT Systems), coordinated by Karlstad University, has officially kicked off.

Over two days, all project partners gathered at Karlstad University to establish the framework for the work ahead.

..who helped Central Hospital in Karlstad get its wheelchairs under control. It all started with a newspaper article about the 'wheelchair chaos' at Central Hospital in Karlstad. Missing wheelchairs led to unnecessary searching and added stress in daily operations. At that point, Stefan Alfredsson, a senior lecturer in computer science, contacted the patient transport unit, and together they began exploring whether the problem could be solved.

Today, around 40 wheelchairs at the hospital are equipped with AirTags, allowing staff to track their location in real time using their mobile phones. The solution saves both time and money and recently won Region Värmland’s Innovation Award 2026.

Congratulations on the award! What prompted you to contact the hospital about this particular problem?