Mobiserv Robot Designed To Keep Tabs On Seniors 40
Zothecula writes "Of the various potential uses for robots, there's one that many people often forget about – in-home helpers for the elderly. A number of such robots are currently in the works, including the Twendy-One and GiraffPlus. Now, a consortium of European research institutes and companies has created another such electronic assistant, as one component of the larger Mobiserv Project."
often forget about – in-home helpers for the (Score:4, Interesting)
"often forget about – in-home helpers for the elderly"
Not me. With people living longer and longer and less and less young people to take care of them, the elderly will be a big market for robots for years to come yet. I had a discussion with a friend of mine about that the other day.
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Why has nobody mentioned Robot and Frank?
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If that's the only use you have for wife, you're doing it wrong.
-- hendrik
I can't see it working (Score:1)
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I think you're not fully considering the target audience's situation
Mom-in-Law is reaching the point that she can't live on her own any more. The choices are:
Send her to a retirement home
Let her move in with you
Hire a caretaker
Purchase a robot caretaker
Take a moment to think about the costs of each of those options, financial and otherwise. Suddenly the robot starts looking a lot more attractive.
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Yes, the Hispanic cultures do tend to be much more family oriented than most, in fact if your story is typical it sounds like Spain may actually be one of the less dramatic examples. In the Americas (less so in the US) it's not all that uncommon for 3-4 generations to live under the same roof. In fact in many places it's the grandparents that are expected to handle the bulk of child-rearing duties. Which probably has some real benefits if you think about it - they've had a lot more time to develop good p
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"Early microwaves were pretty damned expensive and the controls were a lot more complex that today's, since the controls were all analog and mechanical."
I have no idea where you got that, unless you're thinking of something like the Radarange from late Forties.
http://www.eatmedaily.com/2010/04/natural-history-of-the-kitchen-the-microwave/ [eatmedaily.com]
Started using microwave ovens at work and home in '70-71. Controls were brain-dead simple: insert food, close door, turn timer dial. When bell sounds, remove food. Some
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The controls themselves were simpler, but the usage of the oven was much more complicated. Today, with the 'complex' controls, if you want to thaw a pound of meat you hit the 'thaw meat' button, and maybe enter the weight of the meat. In the 70's, with the 'brain dead simple' controls, the procedure was look at a chart to find 'thaw meat'. The chart said 'Set power level to x, run for 2 minutes, wait 2 minutes, set power level to y, run 3 minutes, rotate food, wait 2 minutes' etc. Failure to properly fol
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Oh, Ok, I see what you mean. Back then it was kinda middle ground - basic heating and simple cooking. A chicken breast, x minutes; a mid-size Idaho, y-minutes. Newer ovens offer nifty capabilities but too often the people who design the control logic that faces the user don't live in the same world I do. I've managed to set the clock and thaw stuff; still trying to track down the manual for the old discontinued item my landlord provides. But mostly I don't do, or have the need to do, anything too fancy
I don't even know why the scientists make them (Score:4, Insightful)
Someone needs to offer seniors insurance against that sort of thing.
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Don't think they're not doing so. I just read about some fast-food chain experimenting with robotic burger-making and delivery. Production times can be lowered dramatically, consistency increases, and the robot never ever (well, hardly ever) spits in your burger.
But think this through - once they automate the bulk of the service industry what will they need you for? You'll be out of two jobs, and still need to eat and pay rent. The problem is not a technological one, it's a social one. In a world where
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We had an "easy" introduction to automation with the auto industry in, what, the '70s and '80s on, with hundreds of thousands of workers displaced. Some found other work. A significant number became chronically unemployed and unemployable.
Varies by whose estimates you go by, but gentlest case I've seen is 1/3 of working population in U.S. jobless by mid-century. As in no work to be had at all.
See http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm [marshallbrain.com] for a version.
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It's an easy enough problem to fix, it just requires a cultural shift. One possible route would be to simply make the full time work week shorter: Make it 30 hours instead of 40 and you immediately need 1/3 more workers to cover the same shifts. More vacation time would help too. Companies not cooperating? Raise the mandatory minimum overtime rate to 2x, or 3x, or whatever it takes to motivate them to find a way to spread the work around.
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Amen. Getting that cultural shift is a, if not the, main sticking point in all this. There are a slew of commonly accepted "wisdoms" that, to put it politely, are incongruent with the real world. Adjusting the work week is easy, simple, direct, and at the least effective for near-term. Add proviso that half what is saved from OT goes to benefits. Happy workers makes for good work makes for profit. Now try convince them. Hello, brick wall.
Cheap, abundant electricity is key, later on, but that's anothe
At last! (Score:2)
A robot that will protect us from the terrible secret of space! [youtube.com]
Makes me want to cry... (Score:1)
Robot and Frank (Score:3)
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Much less scary than how I read it (Score:2)
Which isn't to say that I misparsed it syntactically, or even misread any of the words - I just thought from the title that it would be about a robot designed to keep tabs on *high school* seniors, like following them around to make sure they weren't drinking or smoking outside of school. Which would be crazy creepy.
There's insurance for that... (Score:2)
http://www.hulu.com/watch/2340 [hulu.com]
Now I finally understand the purpose of Old Glory insurance. ;)