AI technology for dementia sufferers
A new research project will study whether a robot companion can reduce memory loss and depression in people with dementia.
Powered by artificial intelligence (AI), the desktop robot called Furhat has humanlike expressions and is able to speak.
The National Robotarium, hosted by Heriot-watt and Edinburgh Universities, will examine whether the robot has a beneficial effect on people with dementia.
The same project, running over the next four years, will also trial, on a larger scale, the effect of a graphic character on a tablet, which will be easier and cheaper for people to access in the short term.
In both cases a “companion” powered by AI will prompt memories using pictures, video and sound, both from a person’s own life and cultural events during their lifetime.
Professor Ruth Aylett of the National Robotarium, leading the research, said her team hoped to assess the effect of the desktop robot ahead of when they become more cheaply available.
There is evidence that a physical object can have a more powerful impact on people than a character on a screen, she said. Prof Aylett stressed the robot would not be able to empathise with dementia patients, but the aim is for them to be “believable”. She compared the concept to that of a cartoon character.
“People know they're not real, and they don't expect them to have the full capacity of humans either,” she said. “But they are interesting to interact with and people quite enjoy them.”
AI technology has the potential to play a key role improving the lives of those with cognitive diseases, she said.
The idea for the Agent-based
Memory Prosthesis to Encourage Reminiscing (AMPER) project came from Dr Mei Yii Lim, an experienced memory modelling researcher.
Dr Lim said: “AMPER will explore the potential for AI
to help access an individual’s personal memories residing in the still viable regions of the brain by creating natural, relatable stories. These will be tailored to their unique life experiences, age, social context
and changing needs to encourage reminiscing.”
The project is also supported by dementia experts at Strathclyde University.