Like so many things in life-time , the future of eldercare seemingly lie in robotics . On December 8,IBM and Rice University announcedthat they have collaborated on a prototype robot designed to avail the elderly and assist their caregivers .
describe IBM MERA ( Multi - Purpose Eldercare Robot Assistant ) , the project is a Thomas Augustus Watson - power automaton that can help understand a patient ’s vital signs , do head about their health , andrecognize and assistif there is a spill . The image was produce by IBM alongside Rice Universitystudents and facultyfrom the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Psychology . The robot currently resides inside IBM ’s " Aging in Place " research facility in Austin , Texas .
In summation to running on IBM systems — such as the Cloud and Watson technologies — MERA also implements CameraVitals , a system that can read vital signs by recording a patient ’s face . This applied science was developed by Rice ’s Ashutosh Sabharwal and Ashok Veeraraghavan .
The combination of IBM Watson ’s speech functions and CameraVitals can potentially help get info to health care provider speedily and at all times of the day , especially in an emergency situation . Watson ’s speech and text capabilities also come into free rein if a patient has any health questions for the MERA , such as “ What are the symptoms of anxiety ? ” or “ What is my heart rate ? , ” accord to the university . The mind is that the MERA will implement these systems to help the aged know independently , while still being provided with the introductory care they need .
“ Now is the time to endue in , handle for , protect , and gift our aging universe so they can exist more independent lives , ” Arvind Krishna , IBM Research ’s senior frailty president , enjoin . “ Our novel research on ‘ embodied knowledge , ’ which combines real - time data render by sensors with cognitive computing , will explore how to provide clinician and caregivers with insights that could aid them make better care decision for their patients . ”
Both IBM and the university stress that the identification number of citizenry aged 65 and up in the United States will keep to uprise in the coming decennium , with estimates pointingat 92 million by 2060 , making advancements in eldercare vital as the overall population ages .
[ h / tHealthcare IT News ]
