It seems like a scene from The Jetsons. An older adult wakes up and is helped out of bed and dressed by a friendly robot helper. While this may seem like science fiction, developers are getting closer to making robot caretakers a reality.
There is a heated debate over the effectiveness of a robot caretaker. After all, if robots are incapable of caring, how well suited to the task could they be? However, as the average age of Americans increases, the demand for qualified caretakers could potentially overtake the supply.
In Japan, robots are considered "iyashi," or healing, according to a recent article in The New York Times. This belief led one Japanese inventor to develop Paro, a "socially assistive" robot designed to aid people with special needs and dementia sufferers.
Resembling a fluffy white baby harp seal, Paro was recently tested at the Sunny View Retirement Community in California. Apparently, the furry robot has had some success in drawing usually solitary residents out of their rooms and into conversations. Paro has been especially beneficial to patients with dementia, according to Sunny View activities director Katie Hofman. Hofman told the Mercury News, "We've been able to use it in place of medication at times."
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