Pearl NurseBot lives to serve the elderly
By Barb Dybwad 
posted September 16th 2005 6:28AM
posted September 16th 2005 6:28AM
You know, we've seen some NurseBots in our time, but never one quite so, um, homely. Given that EMMA didn't have much in the way of personality, but Pearl, here — oh dear. The deal here is that the Pearl autonomous mobile robot is designed to appeal to the elderly with an "expressive countenance" — but without looking too human because that creeps people out (tell us about it). She's endowed with a small vocabularly an some limited, machine-like AI in an experiment to try to improve the social interactions between orga and meccha. An interesting endeavor, but as Medgadget points out — are aid-dependent seniors really the ideal target population to beta-test this level of integration with our robotic overlords?
here's an idea: on the eve of the shuttles' retirement in 2010, load them up with senior citizens and their robotic overlords and blast them off to... i dunno, wherever...
I suppose it would be okay as long as they have robot life insurance. Because robots do attack the elderly.
However, I for one, look forward to retiring and welcome our new diaper-changing evil overlords.
Yay Carngegie Mellon! If only they would deploy the NurseBot to the freshman dorms to administer hangover treatments on Sunday mornings.
Just one more way we are forgetting about our elderly and trying to avoid accepting our own
inevitable futures.
Why we can't care for our elderly like other cultures do, I'll never understand.
robots and old people: two great tastes, together at last.
That thing looks scary. I wouldn't want it around if I were in a nursing home. I wouldn't put patients through that.
http://bravomedic.blogspot.com
When i become old and brittle, will it wipe my butt and give me sponge baths? But then... cyborization will be mastered by then (probobly).