Will Robots Help Older People Stay Sharp?

Can a fluffy seal that blinks and squeals, a 1.2 metre
talking robot or a virtual human help older people keep
their brains healthy?

University of Auckland doctoral
scholarship recipient Yuan Gao is putting robotic and
virtual human technologies to the test, to see if they
improve brain health in older people with mild cognitive
impairment.

With support
from the University’s Centre for Co-Created Ageing
Research and the Department of Psychological Medicine, Gao
has just launched the first phase of her research.

The
study involves people aged over 65 chatting with Pepper the
robot and a virtual human, while engaging in activities,
such as physical exercises, cognitive games, and watching a
video about mild cognitive impairment.

The
technologies can also be used to remind people to take
medication, or help them connect socially by suggesting
local community events to attend or by phoning friends and
family for them.

Gao wants to see if older people feel
more motivated with Pepper demonstrating exercises or with a
robotic seal called Paro on their lap, responding to their
touch by wriggling and making sounds.

She will use the
participants’ feedback to re-programme the technologies to
better meet their needs.

The second phase
of her research will involve putting technologies in older
people’s homes for a week, getting their feedback, and
using that to improve the tools.

In the
final phase, three groups will be randomly assigned a robot
or virtual human for three months, while a control group
will have no technological helper.

Gao’s research is
unique because it is testing technologies for older people
over an extended timeframe and in its user-centric
approach.

“I’m interested in
seeing whether these technologies can improve people’s
cognitive health, quality of life and
loneliness.

“Older adults deserve a say in the tools
designed for them. This study is one small step towards
that,” she says.

The 25-year-old’s personal
experiences sparked her interest in developing technologies
that could help older people keep their memories
sharp.

“My great-grandmother was diagnosed with
dementia when I was 10 and I saw the progression of her
condition. She didn’t receive enough support and at the
end, she couldn’t live independently.

“It would be
great if we could develop technologies that help people stay
mentally sharp, physically active and socially engaged, so
they age well and can live independently at home, instead of
going into rest homes,” says Gao.

She hopes her
research will help older people to better understand and
manage mild cognitive impairment, which involves having more
memory or thinking problems than usual for one’s age. It
affects up to 20 percent of people over the age of 65 and
may be an early stage of more serious memory problems, such
as
dementia.

© Scoop Media