Research toward robot aides for the elderly
A partnership among 20 European states, the European Union and a number of private enterprises has launched a three-year, 3.87-million-euro project to make robots capable of serving as adaptable, interactive, and above all safe assistants for elderly people.
The research project, known as ALIAS, places special emphasis on maintaining social networks, warding off feelings of loneliness and isolation, and increasing activities that may protect and enhance cognitive capabilities.
This commitment reflects a conviction that “social robotics” can help face the strong demographic changes in Europe, where more and more elderly people live alone in their homes or in nursing or elderly care homes, with different levels of autonomy.
Many new elderly-friendly devices and technologies are currently being developed, with a stronger inclusion of elderly users under the European Ambient Assisted Living Joint Programme.
The objective of the AAL Joint Programme, which supports the ALIAS project, is to enhance the quality of life of older people and at the same time strengthen the industrial base in Europe through the use of information and communication technologies.
The function of the European project ALIAS, led by the Technische Universitaet Muenchen, is to keep the user linked to his or her social network and in this way to improve quality of life by reducing loneliness and increasing cognitively stimulating activities.
ALIAS facilitates social contacts by creating connections to people and events in the wider world. The plan is to develop, in three years, a mobile robot that interacts with elderly users, monitors their home environments, and provides cognitive assistance in daily life.
The project is launched within the second call of the Ambient Assisted Living – Joint Programme under the coordination of Professor Frank Wallhoff.
Existing concrete applications integrated into the mobile ALIAS robot will facilitate daily life of elderly users. Groups of elderly users in Europe will be asked to give their opinions on the functionalities of the robot from the start of the project, to match their needs to the potential of the robot.
This open innovation model at the core of the project, alongside with gender and ethical studies, will help to establish sound economics for such robots. A key target is to prepare such robots for AAL users in five years time.
