Social RoboticsWaseda's AIREC humanoid shows what a robot carer might do in Japan
A government-funded prototype can help a person sit up, dress and roll over, but its makers say it is years from care homes.
Researchers at Waseda University in Tokyo demonstrated AIREC, a 150 kg humanoid designed to assist with nursing tasks such as helping someone sit up, putting on socks and turning a person onto their side to prevent bedsores. Project lead Shigeki Sugano does not expect it to be ready for care or medical settings until around 2030, at a starting price of at least 10 million yen. The report sets the work against Japan's acute care staffing shortage, with roughly four job openings for every applicant in the nursing sector. For now, robots in Japanese care homes are mostly small exercise and singing companions and sleep sensors, which shows how far physical caregiving robots still have to go.
Source: The Star (Reuters)
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