2001 Space Odyssey in your 2011 home

Which robot do you want as your companion?

In the last issue of Eye on Innovation you read about the PackBots sent to help Japan after the tsunami, the launch in the U.S. of Heartland Robotics' factory assistant robot, and Roomba, the Japanese robot who vacuums your floors. These are all examples of a trend to use robots for a variety of tasks.

Robots already have a confirmed place in industry, where they are more reliable and cheaper than manual workers in operating complex and dangerous machinery, for example in manufacturing cars. They have a place in medicine, with much surgery now performed using robots and distance manipulation of robotic instruments. Now they are set to play a more human role in helping elderly people remain safe and healthy in their own homes. No longer is this Star Wars of the 1970s or the imagination of Isaac Asimov's novels — this is now reality.

With 77 million baby boomers set to retire in the next 30 years in the United States, 22.5% of Japan's population older than 65 and about 200 million elderly in China, attracting and retaining workers to care for our elderly citizens is already resulting in labor shortages, and this has been predicted to become more problematic as the as the population ages.

Source: Dialog NewsRoom, Cengage Gale PROMT^®, Cengage Gale Trade & Industry Database

The Smiling Robot
Robots have been designed to make our lives easier and they are now assuming a large part of the burden to help with the elderly and disabled.  Wouldn't it be nice if this "helper" could also be a companion that smiles or looks afraid or chagrined when scolded? Picture this: you are sitting with your robot dog Carmen, being comforted by your companion Matilda, while Romeo takes charge of many of the household tasks. European laboratories are very active in this field. Two main types of assistance are under investigation: assisting daily life activities (in residential care facilities at home or at work) and emotional robots for therapeutic purposes.

Example 1. In an effort to strategically plan for the needs of aging baby boomers and seniors, French company Aldebaran Robotics has developed a humanoid robot known as Romeo designed specifically for older adults. The robot has the ability to analyze and recall surroundings. So, if you lose your glasses or forget when your next doctor's appointment is, it's Romeo to the rescue.

Source: Cengage Gale Trade and Industry Database, Dialog NewsRoom (IEEE Spectrum).

Example 2. Nao hunches its shoulders when it feels sad and raises its arms for a hug when it feels happy. It has been designed to mimic the emotional skills of a one-year-old child and is capable of forming bonds with people who treat it with kindness. Nao is able to detect human emotions through a series of non-verbal "clues," such as body-language and facial expressions, and becomes more adept at reading a person's mood through prolonged interaction. The wiring of the robot's "brain," designed to mirror the neural network of the human mind, allows it to remember its interactions with different people and memorize their faces. The actions used to display each emotion are preprogrammed, but Nao decides by itself which feeling to display, and when. Non-verbal cues and the emotions are revealed through physical postures, gestures and movements of the body rather than facial or verbal expression.

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Source: Dialog NewsRoom, Dialog Global Reporter

Your cuddly companions
Example 3. Cynthia Breazeal, a scientist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has been working on creating the ideal sidekick.  In several studies at her laboratory, she found as persons interact with robots, they name them, dress the robots and say good-bye to them at the end of the study.

Leornardo, the furry automaton from MIT, has more than 1,500 sensors throughout its body and is capable of extensive interactions with people. It is being tested as a "telepresence" robot: a physically responsive telecommunication device that could, for instance, mirror movements of a person on the other end of the line. It's also being studied as a possible therapy tool for autistic children, some of whom shrink from contact with people but enjoy interacting with robots.

Source: Dialog NewsRoom, Ei Compendex^®, Inspec^®

Example 4. Paro, a cuddly, furry seal, was designed by Japanese robotic scientists to engage patients suffering from dementia. Its sensors allow it to discern the presence of people and respond to touch by wiggling its body and emitting seal-like cries. Its electronic brain has a rudimentary ability to learn words taught by its users and respond with sounds and movements.

Photo: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

Example 5. Robots, pioneered at La Trobe University in partnership with Japan's NEC Corporation and Kyoto University, are able to "read" and respond to human emotion, such as facial cues, voice and touch. Developed with "emotional intelligent" software, Matilda has human attributes such as a baby face with expressions and a human voice. Matilda and Jack, her brother, have been created to be deployed eventually in the health sector to help reduce stress levels of both caregivers and their patients and to enhance public health services. Matilda is already "working" in a Queensland elderly care facility to help assess distress and anxiety levels in patients.

Other countries are also working on robots for the healthcare sector. Developed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, HuiHui is designed to provide care for the elderly in nursing homes, hospitals, and even around the home as a general nanny. Charlie, developed by the Auckland University Robotics Research Group, can take on routine tasks at aged care facilities, such as reminding residents to take their medication and monitoring signs and calls for assistance if patients fall. He also entertains the residents and can play music and videos and has quizzes for brain fitness.

What's next?
Otherwise busy adults are often caught between generations of older and younger relatives who rely on them for care. Many baby boomers take responsibility to help an aging parent retain an independent life in his or her own home, rather than moving to an institutional facility. Others are assisting a developmentally delayed child or grandchild to maintain an independent and functional lifestyle. Still others may help a sibling cope with a chronic health condition. Whatever the situation, there are many opportunities for home technologies to support the important communication and coordination tasks necessary for independent living..

Whether it's Leonardo, Paro, HuiHui or Romeo, these robots are capable of expressing anger, fear, sadness, happiness, excitement and pride. The same technologies that revolutionized the workplace can not only make life easier in the home, but also become a companion. But, are we ready?

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