Goldie Nejat and her team at The University of Toronto has recently come out with a robot to assist the elderly in daily activities. Their goal is to get it to assist in living facilities and eventually in people’s own homes.
This has come at the perfect time as we continue to see the exponential growth of the growing elderly population. An article in the Toronto Star (link at bottom) interviewed the Public Health Agency of Canada who stated that "the proportion of
seniors in the population rose from one in 20 in 1921 to one in seven in
2009. By 2041, it’ll be almost one in four."
“We focused on specific activities the robot can engage a person in, at
the same time providing social stimulation. It can play memory games and
card games to keep the brain active. It can prompt someone through the
steps of brushing their teeth, such as putting the toothpaste on the
brush, or of eating a meal, or it can remind them of a doctor’s
appointment." -Toronto Star article by Bill Taylor/
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new wave ideas -Sara Bonham
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