Memory-Jogging Robot to Keep People Sharp in 'Smart' Retirement Communities

Three European retirement communities are using a robot called ENRICHME, created by researchers at the University of Lincoln in the United Kingdom, to remind older residents where they have put things and help them exercise, reports Horizon . The university's Nicola Bellotto says the robot was developed as part of a project designed "to assist and monitor people with cognitive impairments and offer basic interactions to help a person maintain their cognitive abilities for longer." During trials at retirement communities in the U.K., Greece, and Poland, the robot traveled around providing reminders about medication and offering regular physical and mental exercise. In each community where it was deployed, the robot was connected to sensors installed throughout buildings to monitor the movements and activities of participants. "All this information was used by the robot," Bellotto says. "If a person was in the bedroom or kitchen, the robot could rely on the sensors to know where the person is." The robot also was equipped with a thermal camera to measure the temperature of a person in real time, and calculate their respiration and heartbeat to determine whether they were experiencing high levels of stress related to a particular activity. Bellotto and his team are currently applying for funding for new projects to solve lingering technical problems in order to bring the robot one step closer to commercialization.