KAIST and Stanford Unveil Self-Wearing Adaptive Garment (SWAG) for Disabled and Elderly
Researchers from KAIST in South Korea and Stanford University have developed a Self-Wearing Adaptive Garment (SWAG) that climbs onto its wearer without robotic arms. The technology borrows from vine robots, using inflatable internal tubes called subvines that evert (turn inside-out) to guide sleeves, jackets, and trousers onto the body with low friction. This avoids the pressure and complexity of conventional dressing robots. The system was published in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters in November 2025 and won the journal's Best Paper Award at ICRA 2026. The prototypes target people with limited mobility or recovering from injury. The team includes Jee-Hwan Ryu (KAIST), Allison Okamura (Stanford), and lead author Nam Gyun Kim. The technology remains a prototype with challenges in fabric stiffness and flexibility.
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