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Smarter robots needed to care for the elderly
Print Edition
An old Chinese adage goes: “Rear children to provide for old age.” In the future, however, more people may be turning to robots for care.
Four robots are the new “nurses” at the Shanghai No. 9 Elderly Happy Home, a showcase center for geriatric services and entertainment. They can chat, dance, sing, and entertain. If they are yelled at, the robots respond with: “I also have feelings.”
The fact that people are living longer means there is a growing need for intelligent machines to supplement care work, said Dun Xiangming, associate professor at the Robotics Institute of Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
“The younger generation do not want to be caregivers,” said Dun, adding that single children face a lot of responsibility with aging parents and grandparents.
“Intelligent machines will be needed,” he added.
Another robot, Tami 118, can monitor vital signs and remind residents to take their medication.
“The robots are companions. They can keep old people company, while helping families monitor the health of their elderly relatives,” said Wang Zhen, chairman of the home’s board of directors.
Tami and the robots at the Shanghai center are produced by Beijing firm Tami Intelligence and cost around 100,000 yuan (US$15,700).
“In Beijing alone, we have sold hundreds of Tami homecare robots in the past few years, but they are still a luxury,” said Ding Liucheng, the company’s sales manager.
“In the future, we plan to develop cheaper, smarter robots, as we envisage that more Chinese families and nursing homes will need them,” he said.
At the Yushan Nursing Home in Kunshan, in east China’s Jiangsu Province, “Great Robot,” just 40 centimeters tall and weighing 3 kilograms, makes the rounds and sends images to his human nurse colleagues. It can also open doors and windows if the ward is too warm.
Its producer Ameditec Mechatronic Technology Co, also based in Kunshan, makes a wide range of robots for use in “smarthomes.”
Each Great Robot costs about 8,000 yuan (US$1,257), and the company says it has sold thousands of models.
Nursing the elderly, however, may be a challenge for the robots. “Nurses need years of training, let alone a robot,” said Dun.
Industrial robots have proven to be well-functioning, efficient and cost-saving, but nursing the elderly demands a robot that is interactive, reliable and safe,” he said.
Great Robot only worked in the Yushan home for two months before it was sent back for improvements. “WiFi signal is not stable here at the institution. Our nurses, in their 40s and 50s, had little education and do not know how to handle a robot,” said a nurse Xiao, over the phone.
A businessman surnamed Wu who bought a Tami robot for his 86-year-old grandfather said the elderly man found operating the machine too difficult. “Now it has become a toy for my daughter,” said Wu.
“Technology will develop in the coming decades. With breakthroughs in cognitive and computing science, we will see smarter robots,” Dun said.
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