Memory-Jogging Robot to Keep People Sharp in 'Smart' Retirement Communities

Three European retirement communities are using a robot that reminds older residents where they have put things and helps them exercise as part of a trial to counter cognitive decline in later age, reports Horizon . This robot assistant was developed under the ENRICHME project, with the University of Lincoln's Nicola Bellotto noting the goal of the initiative "was to assist and monitor people with cognitive impairments and offer basic interactions to help a person maintain their cognitive abilities for longer." The robot travels around providing reminders about medication and offering regular physical and mental exercise, while it also can keep track of items that are easily misplaced. In each community where it was deployed, the robot helped one or more residents, and was connected to sensors installed throughout buildings to monitor the movements and activities of participants. "All this information was used by the robot," Bellotto says. "If a person was in the bedroom or kitchen the robot could rely on the sensors to know where the person is." The robot also was equipped with a thermal camera to measure the temperature of a person in real time, and calculate their respiration and heartbeat to determine whether they were experiencing high levels of stress related to a particular activity and inform the machine to take appropriate action.