The Robots are Coming!
Posted by freedomforall 10 years, 3 months ago to Technology
You type: | You see: |
---|---|
*italics* | italics |
**bold** | bold |
While we're very happy to have you in the Gulch and appreciate your wanting to fully engage, some things in the Gulch (e.g. voting, links in comments) are a privilege, not a right. To get you up to speed as quickly as possible, we've provided two options for earning these privileges.
Previous comments... You are currently on page 3.
If you find something you disagree with please comment.
I have long felt that robotic assistance in the home represents our best chance for meeting this challenge. There are already many automated devices that can help people stay at home longer by monitoring activity levels to detect falls and illnesses, keeping track of medication conformance etc.
Over the next few years I expect to see this significantly expand. Japan, which is explicitly attempting to develop robotics for this function seems to be leading the way.
My sister, who works in a nursing home, once told me that often a simple thing like not being able to button your own shirt throws a person out of their home and into nursing care. The threshold to make a difference is low.
The day may come when we don't have nursing homes, that robot companions take care of us. But, in the meantime, if something can keep someone out of a nursing home for two or three years longer there is a pretty impressive market to be met.
And, along these lines, with the advent of self driving cars, the point at which one loses their mobility because they are no longer safe to drive disappears.