Re:Japan is embracing nursing-care robots
by ilamont on Wednesday January 10, 2018 @09:26AM
(#16115084)
Many of its firms see great potential in “carerobos” that look after the elderly.
I'm skeptical, and it's not just because of the long history of western news organizations reporting on supposedly transformational public-facing robotic inventions in Japan that fail to pan out (1).
Caring for patients requires several skills that robots cannot handle well, including manual dexterity and interpersonal communication. Yes, these things will surely get better over time but it won't be soon enough for the demographic crisis now facing the nation.
I think the biggest potential for transforming nursing care in Japan and elsewhere lie in technologies and inventions outside of robotics - better drugs, mobility tools and prosthetics, treatments and devices to improve vision and communication, and monitoring systems.
I'm skeptical, and it's not just because of the long history of western news organizations reporting on supposedly transformational public-facing robotic inventions in Japan that fail to pan out (1).
Caring for patients requires several skills that robots cannot handle well, including manual dexterity and interpersonal communication. Yes, these things will surely get better over time but it won't be soon enough for the demographic crisis now facing the nation.
I think the biggest potential for transforming nursing care in Japan and elsewhere lie in technologies and inventions outside of robotics - better drugs, mobility tools and prosthetics, treatments and devices to improve vision and communication, and monitoring systems.
1. https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2009/may/08/1