And now for something completely different...
A robot that sees, hears, and smells may be Japan’s answer to caring for the country’s burgeoning elderly population.
The robot, known as “RI-MAN,” was created by a government-funded Japanese research institute as an alternative provider of care for the nation’s elderly. The 5-foot, 2-inch robot, whose soft, pale-green body sits atop a wheeled base, is capable of distinguishing eight kinds of smells, can tell which direction sounds are coming from, and can “see” a human face.
RI-MAN also can carry a 26-pound doll, and researchers hope that within five years, he’ll be able to carry a 70-pound human. Underneath its silicone skin are more than 300 sensors that allow RI-MAN to detect both the weight and position of the human body.
“In the future, we would like to develop a capacity to detect a human's health condition through his breath,” researcher Toshiharu Mukai told the AFP news agency.
In Japan, long lifespans and a declining birthrate have pushed care for the elderly at the top of the nation’s concerns.
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