Centre for Software Innovation

The menial, repetitive, and physically demanding task normally performed by health care workers could be reassigned to robotic assistance. In addition, robots with good human-robot interaction capabilities may be assigned to provide interactions to enrich the social experiences of patients. Other tasks can also be performed if the robot machines can be programmed and equipped with specialized features, including monitoring, vital signs, assisting in the dispensing of medicines, or helping with basic communication tasks.

External Links: 

ETRI Korea

HealthBots Wiki

Developing an elderly-care robot - a NZ and Korean joint initiative

Project Background

The University of Auckland (UofA) and ETRI Korea have identified an opportunity to advance care for the aged and disabled. The technologies and expertise of ETRI and the UofA bring unique capabilities to a new partnership for research into this vital and pressing area of population health.

• ETRI have developed a line of inexpensive Domestic Robots which are being deploying into homes in Korea, with computation and other services provided via the national broadband network.
• ETRI are interested in the use of these Robots in aged care applications, both in aged care facilities and in homes, and will provide robots and researchers
• UofA have an advanced Robotics research capability and are working on applications of robots in health care, and will provide space and support for a joint centre
• The project has both senior NZ and Korean Government support and will be part funded by both Governments. The balance will come from Industry.

Vision

• reduce cost in health care settings by deferring some task to the robot which would otherwise take skilled people
• increase the quality of the healthcare experience for patients, improving psychological wellbeing
• improve the level of patent monitoring with robot helper
• use robots to collect data and log events, relieving staff of this chore
• increase the capacity of aged care facilities without degradation of services.
• New Zealand like Korea and Japan have a rapidly aging population, which will soon dominate the total health care spend. Automation of some aspects of the care system are seen as a possible alternative to increased staff, in health care facilities, and as a way to extend some services to the home.

The robots are networked to a central service which delivers much of the IT support needed for the robots to function; the business model is to deliver services via this network, and the robot as the end provider to the user.

Objectives

The objective of this Joint Research is to bring together the capabilities of ETRI's Robots with some of the University's research work, and Korean and NZ companies, and to undertake some new research and applications aimed at:

• westernizing the robot's dialog
• add aged health related functions
• add new robotic capabilities, for example based on technologies such as augmented reality and standardized robotic software systems
• integrate health IT systems with the URC networked services for robots
• psychological /cognitive studies of the effects and affects of the robot in a clinical sitting
• optimize the robots and environment (wifi, speech and noise, aged healthcare spaces)test the robot systems within an aged care facility
• identify any social or ethical considerations
• identify all risk
• validate the economic assumptions