Some seniors turn to a new way to make living easier — robots.
Welcoming a robot into her family was never Maxine Duncan’s idea of a support aide in her older years. But this winter, she and her partner, Herbert Yarbrough, signed up to test a telepresence robot in their retirement community in Walnut Creek, Calif.
Their new pal has a screen f or a head and scuttles around on wheels. The lure was being able to connect more easily with their families via video calls.
The couple were immediately smitten.
They have named the robot Jimmy.
“It’s an easy name to remember,” said Duncan, 86, a former real estate broker. And Yarbrough, 89, takes the robot on the elevator to pick up breakfast downstairs.
“We want to keep up on technology,” said Duncan, who covets a self-driving car. “A lot of older people are isolated from people and ideas. Now we’re on the cutting edge.”
Rosie, the robot from The Jetsons, has arrived.
Early adopters like Duncan are on the front lines of testing new technologies that some experts say are set to upend a few of the constants of retirement. Eager not to be left behind, retirement communities are increasingly serving as testing grounds that vet winners and losers.
Some simple tools that can help older adults are already mass- market consumer items, like Amazon’s personal assistant, Alexa. Other inventions, such as virtual reality technologies and robotic limbs, are still in their early days but could soon provide more freedom, resources and constant care to retirees.
Some technologists see the most promise in the social dimensions. For too long, technology has been chasing problems rather than trying to delight human beings, said Joseph Coughlin, director of the AgeLab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“Where are the devices that help us learn and expand our horizons?” he said.
Virtual reality, for example, can entertain, educate and engage us, he said.
“It’s for young and old alike,” Coughlin said. “And it’s enjoyed, not needed. That’s the high ground.” These devices will especial- ly help augment the adult child’s caregiver role, he added.
Thuc Vu, co- founder of OhmniLabs, helped invent the robot Ohmni that is now Duncan and Yarbrough’s companion.
Vu, who has a doctorate in computer science from Stanford, sees consumer robotics as the next big technology wave.
“There’s a huge senior population, but isolation and loneliness is still common,” he said. “And we’re also running out of caregivers, since most of them are getting older.”
The OhmniLabs robot was designed with the techno- averse in mind and requires limited computer knowledge. It’s connected to Wi- Fi and operated remotely. In its next iteration, the company is working on training the robot to pick up objects.
“In five years, it will be able to wash dishes, do laundry and clean the house,” Vu said. This year, OhmniLabs robots will be offered by a consumer health firm, Home Care Assistance, to retirement communities and people aging in place.
The yearly cost is about 20 per cent of the cost, on average, of hiring full- time caregivers, according to Lily Sarafan, chief executive of Home Care Assistance.
“In five to seven years, caregiving will shift,” Sarafan said.
“And a lot of home automation will become more mainstream.”
Digital health means more attention to senior care, said Sarafan, who is an active tech investor and a mentor at StartX.
“Otherwise, aging is a huge challenge,” she added.
Brookdale Senior Living, which has over 1,000 residential communities, is also testing new technology. Its Entrepreneur in Residence program invites startups into its communities for short stays to test new gadgets. They include smart- medication devices, virtual reality and family connection apps.
Older adults at Brookdale are eager to offer feedback, said Andrew Smith, the company’s director of strategy and innovation. And entrepreneurs also get firsthand experiences with an aging population that has to adapt to their ideas.
“Technology will change the way people age in America,” Smith said. “It’s going to drive every dimension of health or social isolation. Nursing homes were once where you’d go to die.”
Some devices miss their mark. Brookdale residents tested a body dryer, which is widely used at amusement parks to dry people after a ride.
“But no one would come near it,” he said.
Virtual reality, however, has touched residents’ hearts. “Seniors were weeping to see their old homes again,” Smith said.
Virtual reality rejuvenated life for Abdus Shakur, 67, who lives in a Brookdale residence in Quincy, Massachusetts. A classically trained chef, Shakur opted to take a virtual trip to a Creole restaurant in Berlin, where he once worked.
By wearing the VR headset, he could check out the current menu and look at the restaurant’s colourful redesign.
Shakur’s headset was developed by Rendever, after a co-founder’s mother-in-law’s dementia led to communication problems.
“So we’re using VR as a mechanism to enhance life,” said Dennis Lally, CEO and co- founder of Rendever, an MIT company based in Boston. The founders spent hundreds of hours living with residents in Massachusetts to understand their needs, and a crucial lesson was that they often talked about travel.
“Sensory stimulation is important,” Lally said. “And VR creates a sense of wonder for the world again.” Taking people back in time can even prompt more memories in people with cognitive impairments.