Japanese robotics for the elderly

In this weekend's Sunday Times magazine, there was an excellent article on the adoption of robotic technology by the Japanese, written by Camilla Cavendish.

It's not available online due to the pay wall, but is worth trying to track down a copy of yesterday's Sunday Times magazine - perhaps ask at school if any colleague bought it - it's also got the article on the Mexican border which I blogged about today as well...

It describes the adoption of technology to support the growing elderly population in Japan, including those suffering from dementia. It starts with an interesting additional use for a public address system originally intended to warn of typhoons and earthquakes, which was to ask people to look out for an elderly person who had gone missing.
The article features a robot called Pepper, who visited us at my school a few months ago.

The idea of robots assisting the elderly in Japan is not a new one, and has featured in a number of books and other places. I remember Simon Oakes writing about them years ago.
As long ago as 2014, the FT published an article involving some news on Japanese robotics.

Some, like the new Lovot, are designed to provide company for lonely people.

Comments