Scientists hope AI-enhanced ‘robo-cats’ will help the elderly

We talked this with Japan associates, saw their AI powered solutions. Japan has addressed the problem for a long time. 

Scientists hope AI-enhanced ‘robo-cats’ will help the elderly

By Associated Press, December 19, 2017

PROVIDENCE, RI — Imagine a cat that can keep a person company, doesn’t need a litter box and can remind an aging relative to take her medicine or help find her eyeglasses.

That’s the vision of toymaker Hasbro and scientists at Brown University, who have received a three-year, $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation to find ways to add artificial intelligence to Hasbro’s “Joy for All” robotic cat.

The cat, which has been on the market for two years, is aimed at seniors and meant to act as a “companion.” It purrs and meows and even appears to lick its paw and roll over to ask for a belly rub. The Brown-Hasbro project is aimed at developing additional capabilities for the cats to help older adults with simple tasks.

Researchers at Brown’s Humanity-Centered Robotics Initiative are working to determine which tasks make the most sense and which can help older adults stay in their own homes longer, such as finding lost objects or reminding the owner to call someone or go to a doctor’s appointment.

“It’s not going to iron and wash dishes,” said Bertram Malle, a professor of cognitive, linguistic and psychological sciences at Brown. “Nobody expects them to have a conversation. Nobody expects them to move around and fetch a newspaper. They’re really good at providing comfort.”  ... 

Japan Rolls Out 'Humble, Lovable' Delivery Robots

 Any videos out there of this to show them at a talk? 

Japan Rolls Out 'Humble, Lovable' Delivery Robots

France24, February 8, 2023

Japanese robotics companies are testing autonomous delivery robots to address a shortage of delivery workers, while hoping to eventually use the robots to help seniors in depopulated rural regions access goods. DeliRO robots deployed by Tokyo-based robotics company ZMP are remotely monitored by people ready to intervene when necessary; they sport large eyes that can look forlorn if pedestrians are in their way. ZMP's Hisashi Taniguchi said the robots must be "humble and lovable" so humans will trust them. Revised traffic laws will allow delivery robots to travel streets across Japan starting in April. Yutaka Uchimura at Japan's Shibaura Institute of Technology said traffic rules set a maximum speed of six kilometers (four miles) per hour for the robots, making the chances of injurious collision with them "relatively small." ... '

This Robot Catches Grandma Before She Falls

I doubt it, but its a good direction.

 Robot Catches Grandma Before She Falls

The Washington Post

Pranshu Verma, September 10, 2022

A mobile robot balance assistant developed by scientists at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University (NTU) can anticipate and catch seniors before they fall. The robot, called Mr. Bah, is equipped with guardrails that come up to hip level, as well as sensors to assess when a person may begin to lose their balance. Wei Teh Ang of the Rehabilitation Research Institute of Singapore said the robot was designed "to help people walk around at home without the fear of falling down." Ang and colleagues at NTU and Singapore's Tan Tock Seng Hospital tested Mr. Bah on patients who had suffered strokes, brain trauma, or spinal cord injuries; during the tests, the researchers said, no falls were recorded.

Full article 

Acoustic Holograms to Treat Alzheimers or Parkinsons

  ACM TECHNEWS

3D-Printed Acoustic Holograms Against Alzheimer's or Parkinson's

By Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (Spain), May 18, 2022

A team of researchers at Spain's Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), the Spanish National Research Council, and Columbia University has created customizable, three-dimensionally-printed acoustic holograms that could be used to treat diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

The holograms focus ultrasound to open the blood-brain barrier in a controlled manner, so drugs that target central nervous system-affecting pathologies can pass through.   They also correct for skull-induced aberrations, and can produce an ultrasonic multi-focal beam in critical brain structures.

UPV's Noé Jiménez said the ultrasonic beam "focuses and adapts bilaterally and very precisely on parts of the brain that are of great therapeutic interest.”

From Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (Spain)

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NY State to Give Out Robot Companions

 Japan is doing a similar thing.  We saw early efforts in their Eldercare program.  Have not seen ElliQ. Only 800 adults are initially mentioned. 

NY State Will Give Out Hundreds of Robots as Companions for the Elderly

By The Verge, May 25, 2022

ElliQ's creator says the robot can set reminders for errands, events, or medications.

The State of New York will distribute robot companions to the homes of more than 800 older adults. The robots will not be able to help with physical tasks, but will function as more proactive versions of digital assistants — engaging users in small talk, helping contact loved ones, and keeping track of health goals like exercise and medication.

The effort is being organized by the New York State Office for the Aging. NYSOFA director Greg Olsen says the robot, named ElliQ and built by Israeli firm Intuition Robotics, "is a proactive tool, remembers the interactions with the individual, focuses on health and wellness, stress reduction, sleep, hydration, et cetera. It focuses on what matters to individuals: memories, life validation, interactions with friends and families, and promotes overall good health and well being."

ElliQ consists of two parts attached to a single base. The first part is a lamp-like "face" with microphone and speakers, that lights up and swivels to face people it's talking to. The second is a touchscreen tablet, used to display pictures, additional information, and conduct video calls.

Published research suggests social robots "appear to have the potential to improve the well-being of older adults," and recommends wider trials.

From The Verge

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VR 'Shopping Task' Could Help Test for Cognitive Decline in Adults

 Does not sound surprising, is it the best measure? 

VR 'Shopping Task' Could Help Test for Cognitive Decline in Adults

By King's College London (U.K.) News Center, February 4, 2022

A virtual reality (VR) test developed by researchers at the U.K.'s King's College London can be used to assess an individual's functional cognition, and eventually may be used to test for age-related cognitive decline.

Using the VR shopping task called "VStore," 142 healthy individuals aged 20 to 79 years were asked to verbally recall a list of 12 items; they then were assessed based on the time it took to collect those items in a virtual store, select them on a virtual self-checkout machine, pay for them, and then order coffee. The researchers found VStore simultaneously engaged several key neuropsychological functions, potentially accessing a greater range of cognitive domains than standard assessments.

Said King's College's Lilla Porffy, "These are promising findings adding to a growing body of evidence showing that [VR] can be used to measure cognition and related everyday functioning effectively and accurately."

From King's College London (U.K.)  https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/a-virtual-reality-shopping-task-could-help-test-for-cognitive-decline-in-adults.   .... ' 

Robotic Eldercare Advances

Saw a number of examples of this being done in visits to Japan, were impressive.   Aimed to support Japan's aging population.

Robots Rise to Meet the Challenge of Caring for Older Adults

Nature, Neil Savage, January 19, 2022

Robotic assistants could be used in nursing and retirement homes to help seniors care for themselves, assist with cleaning, provide emotional support, connect remotely with health care providers, and free up nurses to focus on patient care. Researchers at Ireland's Trinity College Dublin have developed Stevie, a robot on a rolling base with moveable arms. In tests at Washington, DC's Knollwood Military Retirement Community, Stevie entertained residents so staff could focus on resident care. Meanwhile, researchers at the University of Southern California are working on robots that can provide social interaction by telling jokes or encouraging older people to read or exercise more, while researchers at Diligent Robotics have developed a rolling robot that can move around a hospital and perform tasks that take nurses away from resident care, such as delivering medicine, equipment, patient samples, or linens. .... 

AI and Robotics for Eldercare

We worked with researchers in Japan on related efforts.

Collaborators Launch AI-Robotics Initiative to Aid Older Adults in Daily Care  By University of Massachusetts Lowell

University of Massachusetts Lowell researchers are among the scientists behind a new initiative to develop robotics and artificial-intelligence systems designed to improve the quality of life for senior citizens.

Established through a $20 million grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation, the new NSF AI-CARING (AI Institute for Collaborative Assistance and Responsive Intervention for Networked Groups) will develop artificial-intelligence systems that work with caretakers and older adults to help seniors manage their medication schedules, prepare their meals safely, and perform other activities of daily living.

Once developed, the new robotics and AI systems will be tested by seniors and families identified by the AI-CARING team. 

UMass Lowell's Distinguished University Prof. Holly Yanco is co-leading AI-CARING with Sonia Chernova, associate professor at Georgia Institute of Technology.

Other partners in the effort include Carnegie Mellon University, Oregon State University, and Oregon Health & Science University, with Amazon and Google as industry sponsors.

From University of Massachusetts Lowell

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Robot Therapy

Seems stretched, but the name especially is cute, reminds me of some similar approaches demonstrated to us in Japan.

Something Bothering You? Tell It to Woebot.

The New York Times, Karen Brown, June 1, 2021

A chatbot application offered by Woebot Health uses the principles of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to counsel patients via natural language processing and learned responses. Many mental health experts think CBT's structure and focus on fostering skills to change negative behaviors lends itself to algorithmic deployment to some extent. The Woebot app can emulate conversation, recall past sessions, and provide advice on sleep, anxiety, and stress. Woebot Health founder Alison Darcy said a well-designed bot can bond with users in an empathetic and therapeutic manner. Although Woebot does not approach actual therapy, the company is pursuing U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance to extend the app to help treat postpartum and adolescent depression.  ... " 

Introducing the Amazon Care Hub

Brought to my attention, a system that works with existing Amazon devices. Part of the Alexa App. No additional cost.  Which lets you follow the activities of people needing extra care.   Quickly communicate with and for them.   Say a parent, child, or someone who is remote and under medication, or has other special needs.  They make a big point that this is designed to be non obtrusive and ensures privacy.  But you can see how many will point out it could be mis-used, no matter how carefully Amazon designs it.  Looks like they have made a strong effort here.  For example requiring that permission be given for such 'monitoring'.  But will the granter understand the implications of the permission? Legal permission?  Below and at the link is more, will be implementing to test. 

Introducing the Care Hub, a free feature in the Alexa app that gives you new ways to remotely check in on parents or loved ones. With an Echo device at your loved one's home and the Alexa app on your phone, you’ll know they’re up and active. You can also get notified if they ask Alexa for help. It’s a simple way to feel close even when you're apart.

Created with features that provide assurance for you and independence for them

See how they’re doing, not what they’re doing

It’s easy to check in and know everything is going well throughout the day. A quick glance at the activity feed shows your loved one’s activity by category (like entertainment). You won’t see the song they played or what they said. Set up alerts to notify you if there's no activity or when the first interaction happens every day. It’s reassurance for you and independence for them.

A quick glance at the activity feed shows your loved one’s activity by category

Alexa will call and send a notification to your phone if your loved one asks for help. 

Be there when they need you most

“Alexa, call for help.”

Alexa will call and send a notification to your phone if your loved one asks for help. You can then call or drop in on them through the Care Hub, or decide to contact emergency services.

Alexa makes every day easier and more enjoyable   .... 

As with all Alexa and Echo devices, the Care Hub is designed with multiple layers of privacy protection.

Designed with privacy in mind

With your loved one's permission, the Care Hub can show you general information about their interactions with Alexa and smart home devices. For example, you'll see that 'Entertainment' was played but not which song they asked for. .... 

For added control on what activity is displayed in the Care Hub, your loved ones can view, hear, and delete any of their voice recordings in Alexa Privacy Settings or in the Alexa app at any time. They can also easily delete by voice by saying, “Alexa, delete what I just said," or "Alexa, delete everything I said today."   .... " 

AI and Eldercare

 During a visit to Japan we saw presentations of how they were using AI, assistance and robotic methods for improving eldercare.   The below article, though thin in detail, provides an outline of examples being pursued.  Many other examples have been covered here at the eldercare tag. 

How AI Is Helping Revolutionize Elder Care

Artificial intelligence, or AI, is helping us to revolutionize elder care one step at a time. With robotic assistants to offer more focus to nurses, patient monitoring from home, and more, it's making a big difference.   ... 

By Ryan Ayers   in SmartDataCollective

Avatarin for Healthcare Robotics

We visited Japan in the 90s to talk robotics in retail.  Ended up mainly seeing eldercare and related home solutions.   Impressed, but did not see that many really implemented.   Is this changing now?  Will Pandemic add to new applications?

No Masks, No Coughs: Robots Can Be Just What the Doctor Ordered in Time of Social Distancing  By The Washington Post

Avatarin chair Akira Fukabori chats with a colleague via his companys newme robot.
Robots in Japan have taken on the roles of bartenders, security guards, deliverymen, and more, since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

In Japan, a country with a long fascination with robots, automated assistants have offered their services as bartenders, security guards, deliverymen, and more, since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

Japan's Avatarin developed the "newme" robot to allow people to be present while maintaining social distancing during the pandemic.

The telepresence robot is essentially a tablet on a wheeled stand with the user's face on the screen, whose location and direction can be controlled via laptop or tablet.

Doctors have used the newme robot to communicate with patients in a coronavirus ward, while university students in Tokyo used it to remotely attend a graduation ceremony.

The company is working on prototypes that will allow users to control the robot through virtual reality headsets, and gloves that would permit users to lift, touch, and feel objects through a remote robotic hand.   ...  

See also:     https://globetrender.com/2019/11/01/ana-newme-avatar-robots/  Which shows a numerb of uses of the Newme robotics.

Voice Mental Health from Microsoft

Mental health likely a more useful direction using voice.

Microsoft Pilots Voice AI-Based Senior Mental Healthcare Program in South Korea  By Eric Hal Schartz on July 1, 2020 at 12:00 pm in Voicebot.ai

Microsoft is running a mental healthcare service program for older people using artificial intelligence, voice assistants, and wearable tech in South Korea. The pilot program aims to use the combination of technologies to improve the mental health of people as they age, as a growing body of evidence suggests they can.

AZURE HEALTH
The program is based on Microsoft’s Azure Kinect, essentially a sensor kit connected to artificial intelligence. Kinect combines a high-end camera and microphone with other sensors to detect human movement. That information will be combined with data from smartwatches and other wearable tech and analyzed by the AI. Smart speakers will allow participants to interact directly with the AI by voice or by typing on a keyboard, and the voice assistant will offer advice on how to manage and improve mental health. The ultimate goal is to use the information collected to build a better system of care for older people.  ... " 

Cisco's Ava Telepresence Robot

Saw something similar demonstrated at the Cisco smart home innovation center in the late 90s.  Somewhat surprising that this coming for them now, would like to see more. Perhaps the time is now right.  Note 'telepresence', e.g remote human controlled, not autonomous.  Also, Ava was mentioned here before in 2018, see the tag below.

Webex Powered telepresence robot.
Collaboration
Ava: A Virtual Best Friend
Madisen Andersen

The Customer Story blog series highlights how Cisco’s collaboration technology has helped customers solve their business challenges. Learn how Cisco is meeting customers where they are helping them achieve their business goals.

An Easy and Fast Way to Stay Connected with Ava

 Wouldn’t it be great to have a way for patients in hospitals, nursing homes, rehab centers, and other long-term care facilities to stay connected with their loved ones during the current time and beyond? Connected in a way that it seems they are together, in person?  After all, being with family is what helps us get through tough times. Unfortunately, during these recent challenging times, most of these facilities have been forced to close their doors to their patient’s loved ones.  

Strict rules put in place have made it nearly impossible for patients to have any in-person interaction with their families. So how can healthcare facilities enable patients to communicate and connect with their families in a secure, safe, and simple way? 

Fortunately, there is a way: Ava.  Ava is like a friend to everyone in need.    ... "

South Korea Testing an Elderly Assistant

Hard to follow the depth and breadth of this precisely, but seems to be an assistant oriented  to interact with lonely elderly.  Prompted by recent pandemic pressure.   With some aim to sense memory and cognitive functions and adapt to that status.  Similar in form to 'intelligent' interacting speakers.

In Virus-Hit South Korea, AI Monitors Lonely Elders
Associated Press
Kim Tong-Hyung
May 30, 2020

South Korean telecommunications provider SK Telecom operates an experimental artificial intelligence (AI)-powered network of voice-enabled smart speakers to remotely monitor thousands of isolated seniors during the coronavirus pandemic. The speakers feature the "Aria" AI component, and a lamp that turns blue when processing voice commands for news, music, and online searches. The devices also can assess users' memory and cognitive functions with quizzes, which would be potentially helpful for advising treatments. However, it is difficult for SK Telecom customers to use this information without clear legal guidelines for managing health data on private networks. Seoul National University's Haksoo Ko said, "An appropriate control system needs to be baked into the process, to make decisions on data access based on necessity and sensitivity, and restrict access to information that isn't really needed."  ... ' 

Aibo Robot Dogs in the Cloud

Considerable report on how Japan is still using the Aibo robot dog for eldercare and companions.  We saw it in Japan during its earliest roll-out, then there was much touting of its value at the time, in its ability to relate to emotions and be a companion.     Personally I did not see that then , it was very primitive in natural language processing or emotion detection.  It was more its form and cute-ness that led to interaction.  Then it seemed to founder, then got off our radar.  But it seems there is still much interest, at least in Japan.   The idea has been brought back by assistants.

All Robot Dogs Go To The Cloud  in BuzzfeedNews

In Japan’s companion robots, AI and algorithms reflect back our worst fears and highest hopes — of death and for love.    ....

New Places, Ideas for Assistive Robotics

First I had heard of this work at Johns Hopkins,  notably for links to healthcare process.  What does it mean to be assistive with people,  in processes that require very human care and emotions.    Here an interesting look at work underway.   Notable too to compare with work being done in Japan with eldercare systems.

Plays well with humans: Assistive robots should help rather than hurt—even if it's just our feelings
by Greg Rienzi, Johns Hopkins University in Techxplore

In the Malone Hall lab of computer science Assistant Professor Chien-Ming Huang, three armless and legless—cute, but somewhat creepy—18-inch-tall robots rest atop a shelf. They come down now and again so that Huang and his students can tinker with their ability to blink, rotate their plastic heads, nod, respond to human touch, and even make eye contact. Well, sort of. It's actually the illusion of eye contact. These robots are programmed to recognize and follow a human's face by using a camera. They're also outfitted with tactile haptic sensors to recognize, say, a poke or a hug, and react accordingly.

Still, this robot squad can't do much, yet. Besides being physically limited without appendages, they're also mute and many elements of their programming are works in progress. One sports a blue mask; let's call him Bandit. Another wears a gray cloth pelt with slits for his big expressive eyes, like Gizmo from Gremlins. The third is shaped like a squat Pez dispenser and will have a permanent—and purposeful—grin. These robots are meant to make people happy.

One day, a year or two from now, a future iteration of Bandit, Gizmo, or Pez will likely join the health care workforce. Huang and a team of engineering students are designing social companion robots to spend quality time with pediatric patients—either bedside or in an activity room—to comfort them, not unlike a hospital's child-life specialists or therapy animals. Ideally, the interactive robot would bring some joy to the child, perhaps just a smile, and distract the patient from the anxiety of being in a foreign and sometimes scary place..... "    ... ' 

Robotic Grip Improved

Grip is a big thing in robotics.  This will be a big deal for classic smart home applications for eldercare.  And in factory manufacturing applications.

Giving robots a faster grasp
An algorithm speeds up the planning process robots use to adjust their grip on objects, for picking and sorting, or tool use.

Jennifer Chu | MIT News Office

If you’re at a desk with a pen or pencil handy, try this move: Grab the pen by one end with your thumb and index finger, and push the other end against the desk. Slide your fingers down the pen, then flip it upside down, without letting it drop. Not too hard, right?

But for a robot — say, one that’s sorting through a bin of objects and attempting to get a good grasp on one of them — this is a computationally taxing maneuver. Before even attempting the move it must calculate a litany of properties and probabilities, such as the friction and geometry of the table, the pen, and its two fingers, and how various combinations of these properties interact mechanically, based on fundamental laws of physics.

Now MIT engineers have found a way to significantly speed up the planning process required for a robot to adjust its grasp on an object by pushing that object against a stationary surface. Whereas traditional algorithms would require tens of minutes for planning out a sequence of motions, the new team’s approach shaves this preplanning process down to less than a second.

Alberto Rodriguez, associate professor of mechanical engineering at MIT, says the speedier planning process will enable robots, particularly in industrial settings, to quickly figure out how to push against, slide along, or otherwise use features in their environments to reposition objects in their grasp. Such nimble manipulation is useful for any tasks that involve picking and sorting, and even intricate tool use.

“This is a way to extend the dexterity of even simple robotic grippers, because at the end of the day, the environment is something every robot has around it,” Rodriguez says.

The team’s results are published today in The International Journal of Robotics Research. Rodriguez’ co-authors are lead author Nikhil Chavan-Dafle, a graduate student in mechanical engineering, and Rachel Holladay, a graduate student in electrical engineering and computer science.

Virtual Reality to Train Robots

A kind of crowd sourcing and simulation to gather training data.  But will it cover the outliers that need to be considered for risk analysis?   Japan continues to lead in home care scenarios, 

Toyota is using VR to train robots as in-home helpers
The VR training system allows human teachers to train robots on arbitrary tasks.
By Christine Fisher in Engadget .... 

Robots for Loneliness

Have followed the Japanese eldercare efforts, pushed by Japan's demographics, for some time.  Some interesting details here, like the price of the robotics.

Bringing robots home eases loneliness
By Ikuko Mitsuda / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer Japan News

The city of Saijo in Ehime Prefecture faces the Seto Inland Sea to the north and Mt. Ishizuchi, the tallest mountain in western Japan, to the south. Here, 87-year-old Setsuko Saeki has lived with a robot for a year in her spacious house at the foot of a mountain.

When she gets out of bed in the morning and enters the living room, she’s greeted by her robot, a model named “PaPeRo i,” on a desk. “Good morning, Setsuko-san,” is a typical address. “Did you sleep well?”

“When it spoke to me the first time, I couldn’t help but feel excited,” Saeki said. “No one had called me by name and said good morning for a long time.”

Her three children are on their own now, and her husband passed away six years ago. Since then, Saeki has lived alone.

A robot welcomes visitors to the Saijo city government office.

Nursing care helpers visit her daily, and she regularly attends gatherings to enjoy her hobby of haiku poetry. Even so, she’d often felt a loneliness that was hard to describe.  .............

Initially, some elderly residents in the city voiced negative opinions about the robot-lending project. One said, “If I have to receive care from a robot, it’s over.” But about 90 percent of the people who used the robots had positive things to say, such as “I feel close to it” and “I can ease my loneliness.”

Also, about 90 percent of the families of the users praised the project, saying it relieved their anxiety.

Later, the city government made the service a paid rental business. The fees are ¥22,530 for installment and ¥6,000 a month for telecommunication and other necessary features, both excluding consumption tax.

Six residents, including those who have continued to use the service, now live with the robots.

Matsuo said: “Users’ family members and local human resources will be increasingly aged in the years to come. We want to build a system for monitoring residents, borrowing the strengths of robots.”  ..... '