Personal support
robots, or caregiver robots, are meant to help individuals who, for a number of
reasons, need assistive technology for long-term care, disability, or
monitoring.
Although not widely used, caregiver robots are seen as
useful in countries with rapidly rising older populations or in situations when
a significant number of individuals are afflicted at the same time with a
severe sickness.
Caregiver robots have elicited a wide variety of reactions,
from terror to comfort.
As they attempt to eliminate the toil from caring rituals,
some ethicists have claimed that robotics researchers misunderstand or
underappreciate the role of compassionate caretakers.
The majority of caregiver robots are personal robots for use
at home, however some are used in institutions including hospitals, nursing
homes, and schools.
Some of them are geriatric care robots.
Others, dubbed "robot nannies," are meant to do
childcare tasks.
Many have been dubbed "social robots." Interest in
caregiving robots has risen in tandem with the world's aging population.
Japan has one of the largest percentage of old people in the
world and is a pioneer in the creation of caregiver robots.
According to the United Nations, by 2050, one-third of the
island nation's population would be 65 or older, much outnumbering the natural
supply of nursing care employees.
The Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare of the nation
initiated a pilot demonstration project in 2013 to bring bionic nursing robots
into eldercare facilities.
By 2050, the number of eligible retirees in the United
States will have doubled, and those beyond the age of 85 will have tripled.
In the same year, there will be 1.5 billion persons over the
age of 65 all throughout the globe (United Nations 2019).
For a number of reasons, people are becoming more interested
in caregiver robot technology.
The physical difficulties of caring for the elderly, infirm,
and children are often mentioned as a driving force for the creation of
assistive robots.
The caregiver position may be challenging, especially when
the client has a severe or long-term illness such as Alzheimer's disease,
dementia, or schizoid disorder.
A partial answer to family economic misery has also been
proposed: caregiver robots.
Robots may one day be able to take the place of human
relatives who must work.
They've also been suggested as a possible solution to
nursing home and other care facility staffing shortages.
In addition to technological advancements, societal and
cultural factors are driving the creation of caregiver robots.
Because of unfavorable attitudes of outsiders, robot
caregivers are favored in Japan than overseas health-care employees.
The demand for independence and the dread of losing
behavioral, emotional, and cognitive autonomy are often acknowledged by the
elderly themselves.
In the literature, several robot caregiver functions have
been recognized.
Some robots are thought to be capable of minimizing human
carers' mundane work.
Others are better at more difficult jobs.
Intelligent service robots have been designed to help with
feeding, cleaning of houses and bodies, and mobility support, all of which save
time and effort (including lifting and turning).
Safety monitoring, data collecting, and surveillance are
some of the other functions of these assistive technologies.
Clients with severe to profound impairments may benefit from
robot carers for coaching and stimulation.
For patients who require frequent reminders to accomplish
chores or take medication, these robots might be used as cognitive prosthesis
or mobile memory aides.
These caregiver robots may also include telemedicine
capabilities, allowing them to call doctors or nurses for routine or emergency
consultations.
Robot caretakers have been offered as a source of social
connection and companionship, which has sparked debate.
Although social robots have a human-like appearance, they
are often interactive smart toys or artificial pets.
In Japan, robots are referred to as iyashi, a term that also
refers to a style of anime and manga that focuses on emotional rehabilitation.
As huggable friends, Japanese children and adults may choose
from a broad range of soft-tronic robots.
Matsushita Electric Industrial (MEI) created Wandakun, a
fluffy koala bear-like robot, in the 1990s.
When petted, the bear wiggled, sang, and responded to touch
with a few Japanese sentences.
Babyloid is a plush mechanical baby beluga whale created by
Masayoshi Kano at Chukyo University to help elderly patients with despair.
Babyloid is only seventeen inches long, yet his eyes flicker
and he "naps" when rocked.
When it is "glad," LED lights imbedded in its
cheeks shine.
When the robot is in a bad mood, it may also drop blue LED
tears.
Babyloid can produce almost a hundred distinct noises.
It is hardly a toy, since each one costs more than $1,000.
The infant harp seal is a replica.
The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and
Technology (AIST) in Japan invented Paro to provide consolation to individuals
suffering from dementia, anxiety, or sadness.
Thirteen surface and whisker sensors, three microphones, two
vision sensors, and seven actuators for the neck, fins, and eyelids are all
included in the eighth-generation Paro.
When patients with dementia use Paro, the robot's developer,
Taka nori Shibata of AIST's Intelligent System Research Institute, reports that
they experience less hostility and roaming, as well as increased social
interaction.
In the United States, Paro is classified as a Class II
medical equipment, which puts it in the same danger category as electric
wheelchairs and X-ray machines.
Taizou, a twenty-eight-inch robot that can duplicate the
motions of thirty various workouts, was developed by AIST.
In Japan, Taizou is utilized to encourage older adults to
exercise and keep in shape.
Sony Corporation's well-known AIBO is a robotic therapy dog
as well as a very expensive toy.
In 2018, Sony's Life Care Design division started
introducing a new generation of dog robots into the company's retirement homes.
The humanoid QRIO robot, AIBO's successor, has been
suggested as a platform for basic childcare activities including interactive
games and sing-alongs.
Palro, another Fujisoft robot for eldercare treatment, is
already in use in over 1,000 senior citizen institutions.
Since its original release in 2010, its artificial
intelligence software has been modified multiple times.
Both are used to alleviate dementia symptoms and provide
enjoyment.
A bigger section of users of so-called partner-type personal
robots has also been promoted by Japanese firms.
These robots are designed to encourage human-machine
connection and to alleviate feelings of loneliness and mild melancholy.
In the late 1990s, NEC Corporation started developing the
adorable PaPeRo (Partner-Type Personal Robot).
PaPeRo communications robots have the ability to look,
listen, communicate, and move in a variety of ways.
Current versions include twin camera eyes that can recognize
faces and are intended to allow family members who live in different houses
keep an eye on one other.
PaPeRo's Childcare Version interacts with youngsters and
serves as a temporary babysitter.
In 2005, Toyota debuted its humanoid Partner Robots family.
The company's robots are intended for a broad range of
applications, including human assistance and rehabilitation, as well as
socializing and innovation.
In 2012, Toyota launched the Partner Robots line with a
customized Human Support Robot (HSR).
HSR robots are designed to help older adults maintain their
independence.
In Japan, prototypes are currently being used in eldercare
facilities and handicapped people's homes.
HSR robots are capable of picking up and retrieving things
as well as avoiding obstacles.
They may also be controlled remotely by a human caregiver
and offer internet access and communication.
Japanese roboticists are likewise taking a more focused
approach to automated caring.
The RI-MAN robot, developed by the RIKEN Collaboration
Center for Human-Interactive Robot Research, is an autonomous humanoid
patient-lifting robot.
The forearms, upper arms, and torso of the robot are made of
a soft sili cone skin layer and are equipped with touch sensors for safe
lifting.
RI-MAN has odor detectors and can follow human faces.
RIBA (Robot for Interactive Body Assistance) is a
second-generation RIKEN lifting robot that securely moves patients from bed to
wheelchair while responding to simple voice instructions.
Capacitance-type tactile sensors made completely of rubber
monitor patient weight in the RIBA-II.
RIKEN's current-generation hydraulic patient
life-and-transfer equipment is called Robear.
The robot, which has the look of an anthropomorphic robotic
bear, is lighter than its predecessors.
Toshiharu Mukai, RIKEN's inventor and lab leader, invented
the lifting robots.
SECOM's MySpoon, Cyberdine's Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL),
and Panasonic's Resyone robotic care bed are examples of narrower approaches to
caregiver robots in Japan.
MySpoon is a meal-assistance robot that allows customers to
feed themselves using a joystick as a replacement for a human arm and eating
utensil.
People with physical limitations may employ the Cyberdine
Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL), a powered robotic exoskeleton outfit.
For patients who would ordinarily need daily lift help, the
Panasonic Resyone robotic care bed merges bed and wheelchair.
Projects to develop caregiver robots are also ongoing in
Australia and New Zealand.
The Australian Research Council's Centre of Excellence for
Autonomous Systems (CAS) was established in the early 2000s as a collaboration
between the University of Technology Sydney, the University of Sydney, and the
University of New South Wales.
The center's mission was to better understand and develop
robotics in order to promote the widespread and ubiquitous use of autonomous
systems in society.
The work of CAS has now been separated and placed on an
independent footing at the University of Technology Sydney's Centre for
Autonomous Systems and the University of Sydney's Australian Centre for Field
Robotics.
Bruce Mac Donald of the University of Auckland is leading
the creation of Healthbot, a socially assistive robot.
Healthbot is a mobile health robot that reminds seniors to
take their meds, check vitals and monitor their physical condition, and call
for aid in an emergency.
In the European Union, a number of caregiver robots are
being developed.
The GiraffPlus (Giraff+) project, which was just finished at
rebro University in Sweden, intends to develop an intelligent system for
monitoring the blood pressure, temperature, and movements of elderly
individuals at home (to detect falls and other health emergencies).
Giraff may also be utilized as a telepresence robot for
virtual visits with family members and health care providers.
The robot is roughly five and a half feet tall and has basic
controls as well as a night-vision camera.
The European Mobiserv project's interdisciplinary,
collaborative goal is to develop a robot that reminds elderly customers to take
their prescriptions, consume meals, and keep active.
Mobiserv is part of a smart home ecosystem that includes
sensors, optical sensors, and other automated devices.
Mobiserv is a mobile application that works with smart
clothing that collects health-related data.
Mobiserv is a collaboration between Systema Technologies and
nine European partners that represent seven different nations.
The EU CompanionAble Project, which involves fifteen
institutions and is led by the University of Reading, aims to develop a
transportable robotic companion to illustrate the benefits of information and
communication technology in aged care.
In the early stages of dementia, the CompanionAble robot
tries to solve emergency and security issues, offer cognitive stimulation and
reminders, and call human caregiver support.
In a smart home scenario, CompanionAble also interacts with
a range of sensors and devices.
The QuoVADis Project at Brova Hospital Paris, a public
university hospital specializing in geriatrics, has a similar goal: to develop
a robot for at-home care of cognitively challenged old persons.
The Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and
Automation is still designing and manufacturing Care-O-Bots, which are modular
robots.
It's designed for hospitals, hotels, and nursing homes.
With its long arms and rotating, bending hip joint, the
Care-O-Bot 4 service robot can reach from the floor to a shelf.
The robot is intended to be regarded as friendly, helpful,
courteous, and intelligent.
ROBOSWARM and IWARD, intelligent and programmable hospital
robot swarms developed by the European Union, provide a fresh approach.
ROBOSWARM is a distributed agent cleaning system for
hospitals.
Cleaning, patient monitoring and guiding, environmental
monitoring, medicine distribution, and patient surveillance are all covered by
the more flexible IWARD.
Because the AI systems incorporated in these systems display
adaptive and self-organizing characteristics, multi-institutional partners
determined that certifying that they would operate adequately under real-world
conditions would be challenging.
They also discovered that onlookers sometimes questioned the
robots' motions, asking whether they were doing the proper tasks.
The Ludwig humanoid robot, developed at the University of
Toronto, is intended to assist caretakers in dealing with aging-related issues
in their clients.
The robot converses with elderly people suffering from
dementia or Alzheimer's disease.
Goldie Nejat, AGE-WELL Investigator and Canada Research
Chair in Robots for Society and Director of the University of Toronto's
Institute for Robots and Mechatronics, is employing robotics technology to
assist individuals by guiding them through ordinary everyday chores.
Brian, the university's robot, is sociable and reacts to
emotional human interaction.
HomeLab is creating assistive robots for use in health-care
delivery at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute (iDAPT), Canada's biggest academic
rehabilitation research facility.
Ed the Robot, created by HomeLab, is a low-cost robot built
using the iRobot Create toolset.
The robot, like Brian, is designed to remind dementia
sufferers of the appropriate steps to take while doing everyday tasks.
In the United States, caregiver robot technology is also on
the rise.
The Acrotek Actron MentorBot surveillance and security
robot, which was created in the early 2000s, could follow a human client using
visual and aural cues, offer food or medicine reminders, inform family members
about concerns, and call emergency services.
Bandit is a socially supportive robot created by Maja Matari
of the Robotics and Autonomous Systems Center at the University of Southern
California.
The robot is employed in therapeutic settings with patients
who have had catastrophic injuries or strokes, as well as those who have aging
disorders, autism, or who are obese.
Stroke sufferers react swiftly to imitation exercise
movements produced by clever robots in rehabilitation sessions, according to
the institute.
Robotic-assisted rehabilitative exercises were also
effective in prompting and cueing tasks for youngsters with autism spectrum
disorders.
Through the business Embodied Inc., Matari is currently
attempting to bring cheap social robots to market.
Nursebots Flo and Pearl, assistive robots for the care of
the elderly and infirm, were developed in collaboration between the University
of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of Michigan.
The National Science Foundation-funded Nursebot project
created a platform for intelligent reminders, telepresence, data gathering and
monitoring, mobile manipulation, and social engagement.
Today, Carnegie Mellon is home to the Quality of Life
Technology (QoLT) Center, a National Science Foundation Engineering Research
Center (ERC) whose objective is to use intelligent technologies to promote
independence and improve the functional capabilities of the elderly and
handicapped.
The transdisciplinary AgeLab at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology was founded in 1999 to aid in the development of marketable ideas
and assistive technology for the aged.
Joe Coughlin, the creator and director of AgeLab, has
concentrated on developing the technological requirements for conversational
robots for senior care that have the difficult-to-define attribute of
likeability.
Walter Dan Stiehl and associates in the Media Lab created
The HuggableTM teddy bear robotic companion at MIT.
A video camera eye, 1,500 sensors, silent actuators, an
inertial measurement unit, a speaker, and an internal personal computer with
wireless networking capabilities are all included in the bear.
Virtual agents are used in other forms of caregiving
technology.
Softbots are a term used to describe these agents.
The MIT Media Lab's CASPER affect management agent, created
by Jonathan Klein, Youngme Moon, and Rosalind Picard in the early 2000s, is an
example of a virtual agent designed to relieve unpleasant emotional states,
notably impatience.
To reply to a user who is sharing their ideas and emotions
with the computer, the human-computer interaction (HCI) agent employs text-only
social-affective feedback mechanisms.
The MIT FITrack exercise advisor agent uses a
browser-based client with a relational database and text-to-speech engine on
the backend.
The goal of FITrack is to create an interactive simulation
of a professional fitness trainer called Laura working with a client.
Amanda Sharkey and Noel Sharkey, computer scientists at the
University of Sheffield, are often mentioned in studies on the ethics of
caregiver robot technology.
The Shar keys are concerned about robotic carers and the
loss of human dignity they may cause.
They claim that such technology has both advantages and
disadvantages.
On the one hand, care provider robots have the potential to
broaden the variety of options accessible to graying populations, and these
features of technology should be promoted.
The technologies, on the other hand, might be used to
mislead or deceive society's most vulnerable people, or to further isolate the
elderly from frequent companionship and social engagement.
The Sharkeys point out that robotic caretakers may someday
outperform humans in certain areas, such as when speed, power, or accuracy are
required.
Robots might be trained to avoid or lessen eldercare abuse,
impatience, or ineptitude, all of which are typical complaints among the
elderly.
Indeed, if societal institutions for caregiver assistance
are weak or defective, an ethical obligation to utilize caregiver robots may
apply.
Robots, on the other hand, can not comprehend complicated
human constructions like loyalty or adapt perfectly to the delicate, tailored
demands of specific consumers.
"The old may find themselves in a barren world of
machines, a world of automated care: a factory for the aged," the Sharkeys
wrote if they don't plan ahead (Sharkey and Sharkey 2012, 282).
In her groundbreaking book Alone Together: Why We Expect
More From Technology and Less From Each Other (2011), Sherry Turkle includes a
chapter to caregiver robots.
She points out that researchers in robotics and artificial
intelligence are driven by the need to make the elderly feel desired via their
work, assuming that older folks are often lonely or abandoned.
In aging populations, it is true that attention and labor
are in short supply.
Robots are used as a kind of entertainment.
They make everyday living and household routines easier and
safer.
Turkle admits that robots never get tired and can even
function from a neutral stance in customer interactions.
Humans, on the other hand, can have reasons that go against
even the most basic or traditional norms of caring.
"One may argue that individuals can act as though they
care," Turkle observes.
"A robot is unconcerned. As a result, a robot cannot act since it can only act"
(Turkle 2011, 124).
Turkle, on the other hand, is a critical critic of
caregiving technology.
Most importantly, caring conduct and caring feelings are
often misconstrued.
In her opinion, interactions between people and robots do
not constitute true dialogues.
They may even cause consternation among vulnerable and
reliant groups.
The risk of privacy invasion from caregiver robot monitoring
is significant, and automated help might potentially sabotage human experience
and memory development.
The emergence of a generation of older folks and youngsters
who prefer machines to intimate human ties poses a significant threat.
On suitable behaviors and manufactured compassion, several
philosophers and ethicists have chimed in.
Human touch is very important in healing rituals, according
to Sparrow and Sparrow (2006), robots may increase loss of control, and robot
caring is false caregiving since robots are incapable of genuine concern.
Borenstein and Pearson (2011) and Van Wynsberghe (2013)
believe that caregiver robots infringe on human dignity and senior rights,
impeding freedom of choice.
Van Wynsberghe, in particular, advocates for value-sensitive
robot designs that align with Joan Tronto's ethic of care, which includes
attentiveness, responsibility, competence, and reciprocity, as well as broader
concerns for respect, trust, empathy, and compassion, according to University
of Minnesota professor Joan Tronto.
Vallor (2011) questioned the underlying assumptions of robot
care by questioning the premise that caring for others is only a problem or a
burden.
It's possible that excellent care is individualized to the
individual, something that personable but mass-produced robots could fail to
provide.
Robot caregiving will very certainly be frowned upon by many
faiths and cultures.
By providing incorrect and unsuitable social connections,
caregiver robots may potentially cause reactive attachment disorder in
children.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has
defined rules for the creation of personal robots, but who is to blame when a
robot is neglected? The courts are undecided, and robot caregiver legislation
is still in its early stages.
According to Sharkey and Sharkey (2010), caregiver robots
might be held accountable for breaches of privacy, injury caused by illegal
constraint, misleading activities, psychological harm, and accountability
failings.
Future robot ethical frameworks must prioritize the needs of
patients above the wishes of caretakers.
In interviews with the elderly, Wu et al. (2010) discovered six themes connected to patient
requirements.
Thirty people in their sixties and seventies agreed that
assistive technology should initially aid them with simple, daily chores.
Other important needs included maintaining good health,
stimulating memory and concentration, living alone "for as long as I wish
without worrying my family circle" (Wu et al. 2010, 36), maintaining curiosity and growing interest in new
activities, and communicating with relatives on a regular basis.
In popular culture, robot maids, nannies, and caregiver
technologies are all prominent clichés.
Several early instances may be seen in the television series
The Twilight Zone.
In "The Lateness of the Hour," a man develops a
whole family of robot slaves (1960).
In "I Sing the Body Electric," Grandma is a robot
babysitter (1962).
From the animated television series The Jetsons (1962–1963),
Rosie the robotic maid is a notable character.
In the animated movie Wall-E (2008) and Big Hero 6 (2014),
as well as the science fiction thriller I Am Mother, caregiver robots are a
central narrative component (2019).
They're also commonly seen in manga and anime.
Roujin Z (1991), Kurogane Communication (1997), and The
Umbrella Academy are just a few examples (2019).
In popular culture, Jake Schreier's 2012 science fiction
film Robot and Frank dramatizes the limits and potential of caregiver robot
technology.
A gruff former jewel thief with deteriorating mental health
seeks to make his robotic sidekick into a criminal accomplice in the film.
The film delves into a number of ethical concerns including
not just the care of the elderly, but also the rights of robots in slavery.
"We are psychologically evolved not merely to nurture
what we love, but to love what we nurture," says MIT social scientist
Sherry Turkle (Turkle 2011, 11).
~ Jai Krishna Ponnappan
You may also want to read more about Artificial Intelligence here.
See also:
Ishiguro, Hiroshi; Robot Ethics; Turkle, Sherry.
Further Reading
Borenstein, Jason, and Yvette Pearson. 2011. “Robot Caregivers: Ethical Issues across the Human Lifespan.” In Robot Ethics: The Ethical and Social Implications ofRobotics, edited by Patrick Lin, Keith Abney, and George A. Bekey, 251–65. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Sharkey, Noel, and Amanda Sharkey. 2010. “The Crying Shame of Robot Nannies: An Ethical Appraisal.” Interaction Studies 11, no. 2 (January): 161–90.
Sharkey, Noel, and Amanda Sharkey. 2012. “The Eldercare Factory.” Gerontology 58, no. 3: 282–88.
Sparrow, Robert, and Linda Sparrow. 2006 “In the Hands of Machines? The Future of Aged Care.” Minds and Machines 16, no. 2 (May): 141–61.
Turkle, Sherry. 2011. Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other. New York: Basic Books.
United Nations. 2019. World Population Ageing Highlights. New York: Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Population Division.
Vallor, Shannon. 2011. “Carebots and Caregivers: Sustaining the Ethical Ideal of Care in the Twenty-First Century.” Philosophy & Technology 24, no. 3 (September): 251–68.
Van Wynsberghe, Aimee. 2013. “Designing Robots for Care: Care Centered Value Sensitive Design.” Science and Engineering Ethics 19, no. 2 (June): 407–33.
Wu, Ya-Huei, Véronique Faucounau, Mélodie Boulay, Marina Maestrutti, and Anne Sophie Rigaud. 2010. “Robotic Agents for Supporting Community-Dwelling Elderly People with Memory Complaints: Perceived Needs and Preferences.” Health Informatics Journal 17, no. 1: 33–40.
