Originally published August 20 2005
Japan looking to robots to help with the growing number of elderly
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Because Japan will not easily allow cheap foreign laborers into the country, many are wondering who will take care of the growing number of elderly in the country. Japanese researchers say that they are developing smart machines, like wheelchairs that avoid obstacles and "service robots" to cheaply meet the growing needs of the elderly.
They won't be leaping tall buildings in a single bound, but Japan's growing number of elderly may someday have a new lease on life that allows them to care for themselves -- and maybe even pump a little iron.
As the country's population ages rapidly and its workforce shrinks, care workers may be hard to come by, so researchers are trying to develop the ultimate personal care givers: robots.
"Unlike the United States or Europe, Japan is reluctant to allow in cheap foreign laborers," said Takashi Gomi, president of Canada-based Applied AI Systems Inc., whose company has developed a prototype of an "intelligent" wheelchair that can move around on its own and sense obstacles to avoid them.
A researcher at Japan's University of Tsukuba, Sankai has developed a robotic suit designed to make it easier for elderly people with weak muscles to move around or for care-givers to lift them.
It straps onto a person's arms, legs and back and is equipped with a computer, motors and sensors that detect electric nerve signals transmitted from the brain when a person tries to move his limbs.
"The big goal is to expand or strengthen the physical capability of humans," said Sankai, who set up a venture firm last year to market the robot suit and plans to start leasing HAL-5 to the elderly and disabled in Japan this year.
It was home to 44 percent of the nearly 801,000 industrial robots around the world at the end of 2003.
Although the market for "rehabilitation robots" -- those aimed at assisting the elderly or disabled -- is still in its infancy, they are gradually coming into use.
Robot gurus at Tohoku University and Nomura Unison Co.
That's what they had in mind when developing a "Partner Ballroom Dance Robot" that can dance a waltz.
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