A robot best friend
For most older adults, the closest they come to getting support from a robot is using a Roomba to pick dog hairs off the carpet. Yet that could be about to change.
Japan has one of the oldest populations, with almost a third of citizens now aged over 65, making it a hotbed of innovation for older adults. For example, robots are already undertaking a number of roles for the elderly, including cleaning, acting as companions and exercise coaches, and even nurses (albeit sometimes shaped like bears), with one nursing home using 20 separate models of robot.
In Japan, such robots tend to be viewed positively – research found the majority of people would be fine with nursing care from a robot – but attitudes vary around the world, and many people are concerned a rise in visits from robot nurses could mean a fall in visits from human ones.
“People are very concerned about technology replacing human connections… we would always say that tech should be an enabler or a supporter with care or health, rather than a replacement for humans or doctors,” explained Sinead Mac Manus, senior programme manager for digital health at the innovation foundation Nesta.
Companion robots may offer a more palatable alternative. Pepper, a semi-humanoid robot made by SoftBank Robotics that can chat in natural language, and Paro, a seal-shaped “therapeutic robot”, are among the hardware being trialled as a way of engaging older people, particularly in care homes.
Robots that can double as pets are shaping up to be big business too: one analysts’ report put the growth rate at around 11% over the next few years.
“I’ve seen really good examples of robot companions, which are designed to be something like a sort of a pet,” The Medical Futurist Institute’s Meskó said. “They don’t want to mimic real-life animals, but they want to provide a sort of companionship mostly for those elderly patients who have been living alone for a long time… Now I see robots with chatbots built inside, which could serve both to provide a sort of companionship and second, facilitate communication with the outside world. That’s where I think robots could primarily have a place in the lives of elderly patients.”