iRobot's Robot Doc Is Ready To Heal You 53
SkinnyGuy tips news that patients may soon be getting diagnosed with the help of a 5'4", 140lb assistant going by the name of RP-VITA. The 'Remote Presence Virtual + Independent Telemedicine Assistant' was unveiled this week by iRobot (the company behind the Roomba vacuum bot) and InTouch Health, and it allows doctors a way to remotely gather data. "It may be controlled via joystick, but RP-Vita does have some awareness of its environment. It employs a dazzling array of sensors that include PrimeSense Sensors (the same ones you find in the Kinect for Xbox 360), two cameras that together approximate normal human vision, sonar and a laser range finder. It also creates a map of the hospital and knows the location, for example, of its roll-into charging base." RP-VITA is currently waiting on FDA approval for use inside a hospital, which its creators expect by the end of the year.
Depressing (Score:5, Insightful)
Sorry, but to me this is just depressing. We already have to lots tons of money to wait forever to see a LIVE doctor who can barely be bothered to listen or treat before flying out of the room to the next patient. So this is just want we need- make the experience even that much less functional, colder, and more remote.
At this rate, I would do better to just sit at home, Google up all my symptoms and treat myself. Or at least just take my own vitals and video conference with a doctor. Then at maybe I can skip the hour wait in the freezing waiting room with people coughing on me, kids screaming, and a TV blaring on some stupid reality show (or worse, some "public health message loop").
Sorry for the rant, just have not had a lot of good experiences with doctors or doctor offices over the last few years.
Re:Depressing (Score:3, Insightful)
The United States is enamored with the idea that technology will -- somehow, someday -- fix our broken health care system. It won't, and it can't. It's a profoundly social problem.