An Old Folk's Bot

Posted 7 Mar 2003 at 13:42 UTC by steve

According to a Wired article, US health-care companies are begining to more actively experiment with the use of robots to care for the elderly. As the number of elderly will continue to increase over the coming decades, the problem of caring for them has been a concern for some time. The article focuses on a robot called "The Companion" built by InTouch Health, Inc. that is essentially a mobile teleconferencing unit for doctors. The US seems a bit behind in this area, which has been one of the primary driving forces behind the development of autonomous, humanoid bipeds in Japan for some time (possibly because 25% of the population there will be over 65 by 2005). For more on The Companion, see the complete InTouch Health press release.

ahhh, i'm going to miss the market!, posted 7 Mar 2003 at 19:28 UTC by ObsoleteSuperMan » (Observer)

the HYHM robots are being designed with senior citizens in mind. as well as handicapped people. PROJECT: Help Me Help You. Personality in trade for Assistance. a fair deal in my mind.

Asimo?, posted 7 Mar 2003 at 20:25 UTC by dude_plasma » (Apprentice)

I saw Asimo @ the Museum of Science and Industry. The head engineers there mentioned that Asimo might be used to aid the elderly in a similar way discussed in the article. When I read they were talking about having the robot have cameras in the head for the caregiver to see the patient, I thought Asimo would be perfect! By the way, check out some pictures of Asimo from the Museum of Science and Industry here .

Japan, posted 8 Mar 2003 at 03:37 UTC by NateW » (Master)

I heard somewhere that senior care is the driving force behind the Japanese work in humanoid robotics. Their population is aging in a big way. Birth rates have been low both there and in the US (for example) for years, but Japan's strict immigration policy has set them up for a social-security crash even worse that what looms for the US. There just won't be enough young people to provide for those who can't provide for themselves.