Robot help on the horizon
Reuters newsagency has reported that researchers in Norway are looking at ways robots and other technology could assist older people.
Ideas include robots to do washing and cleaning, with medical monitoring and personal hygiene other areas the group plans to explore.
The researchers stressed the use of technology was not to replace human interaction, but to provide extra help for people.
They said it was still too early to say when people could start to be helped by robotic carers.
In Japan, there is an abundance of technology to assist seniors and their carers.
Some aged care facilities use human washing machines: electronic baths with massage capabilities.
For people living in their own homes, there is an electric kettle with a radio transmitter that sends emails to relatives to let them know if the user has made tea that day, thus checking on their wellbeing.
