Older Adults Welcome Robots- Possibilities and Limits of Robotics for Elderly -

Robert M WenzelDirector of London Global LaboratoriesChairman of London’s Artificial Intelligences Futurists

Photo credit: freedigitalphotos.net by Ambro

Questions

1. Aging Societies - A look at the demographical data

2. The ‘New’ Silver Economy – A Great Opportunity

3. Robots helping Older Adults – What do the latest studies say?

4. Summary – Older Adults and Robots

5. Future Discussions

Aging Societies around the world

Composition of the total dependency ratio: world and development regions, 1950-2050Source: Population Division, DESA, United Nations

Youth vs. old ageThe increasing proportions of aged persons shows steady declines in the proportion of young persons.

People 60 and over will be 32% of the Europe’s total population by 2050

USA Figures:•By 1900 3 million people aged 65 and older•By 2010 more than 40 million people aged 65 and older•By 2050 more than 88.5 million people aged 65 and older

India and China Figures:

The ‘New’ Silver EconomyA Great Opportunity

According to the latest findings from the 2nd Asia Pacific Silver Economy Business Opportunities Report 2013, the Asia Pacific’s silver economy is expected to hit US$3 trillion by the year 2017.

Mean and median income by household type in Europe (28 Countries) 2011: 14,830 Euro per year

Who are the potential buyers?•Children who like to ease the life of their parents or don’t have time to take care or…•Professional caretakers•Care insurance companies to lower the costs•Elderly people

Everyday Robotic Tasks for Older Adults A survey done by the Georgia Institute of Technology points shows opportunities and limits of robots for Older Adults:

•50% of healthcare providers would rather have a robot than a human. Why? Lower costs jobs go often along with less quality•Reminders about medications, suggesting medications is not welcome•And caregivers wanted to keep some things as human contact that might seem surprising; helping people dress, bathing them and feeding them

Robots shall perform narrow, well-defined tasks whilst ensuring an excellent quality.

Robots shall support people to stay healthy (Reminder, observing are welcome), but NO decision making and NO direct human contact such as bathing, feeding, helping people to dress

Challenge in the everyday tasksOlder Adults don’t speak ‘robot’

A study done by the University of Notre Dame and University of Missouri shows older adults become tongue-tied when they have to command a robot by using natural language.

The experiment: Older adults shall describe the location of a desired object to either a robot or person. Can the commands of the older adults translated into robot commands?

Photo Credit: Keith Bujak/Georgia TechPatient to robot: “Could you bring me please my drugs out of the kitchen?”

Patient to human helper:“Could you bring me please my drugs? The blue ones on the table in the kitchen.”

When speaking to the robot, participants preferred to use fewer words and to adopt a speaker's perspective

When talking to a human person, participants used more words and preferred an addressee perspective.

Robots to cope with diseasesRobotic Companion Animal Comforts Dementia Sufferers

A study, published in Journal of Gerontological Nursing (Wendy Moyle et al., Exploring the Effect of Companion Robots on Emotional Expression in Older Adults with Dementia: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial) resulted

In the movie Robot & Frank (2012) an elderly man suffering from dementia. He is given an artificially intelligent robot to help him survive on his own as his condition worsens. Objective Function of the robot is the health of Frank.

Photo credit: Wikipedia

The robotic companion animal appeared as harp seal. Its AI software and tactile sensor are enabled to response to touch and sound. The robot could express surprise, happiness or anger. Furthermore, it could respond to certain words.

The patients reactions to the robot are comparable to a real animal companion.

Photo credit: Wikipedia

A therapeutic robot companion improved the quality of life for a small group of people with mid- to late-stage dementia. The people appeared

• happier and • less anxious

Robots to deal with moodsDetecting emotions by using the Kinect

• Example of a Virtual Human and Multimodal Perception for detecting (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejczMs6b1Q4)

-> Detecting Human Emotions by using a Kinect-> Generating Emotional Robotic Appearance as Reaction to an Emotion (not to what had been said)

Summary1. The market analysis shows there is a need and a market for robots in elderly care.

2. Studies have proved that robots are useful in elderly care. Hereby, different kind of robots are welcome:a) Support robots (helping with daily needs such as medication reminder)b) Robots to ease diseases like dementiac) Robotic systems to observe vital functionsd) Engaging systems to cope e.g. with moods etc.

3. Older adults do accept the help of robots studies show. But, elderly people don’t trust robots e.g. to make decisions about their health such as prescription of medication.

4. A survey shows caregiver will use robots to ease their work. However, tasks like bathing, feeding, or dressing shall be performed by a human caregiver (not by a robotic system).

5. Study proved that robots help to cope better with disease like dementia.

6. Studies have shown that older adults become tongue-tied when speaking with a robot.

7. Research results (e.g. from the MIT ) reveal studies the robotic appearance is very important; Presenting the same Human-Robot-Interaction system in different robot systems can makes a significant difference. The key factor is using the anticipation the user has already.

8. Studies (MIT) proved robots don’t need to have “intelligence”. Setting up the right “play” with the human anticipation is crucial.

Investing in robotics for older adults can be profitable.

Future Discussion

1. Where could robots help older adults best?2. What would be the best Human-Robot-Interaction for

elderly people?3. What would be the best design for a robot for older adults?

Robert M WenzelDirector of London Global LaboratoriesChairman of London’s Artificial Intelligences Futurists