Robotics, AI innovations put elderly care on fast track

Home, safe home

Providing services that range from emotional companionship and daily assistance to safety monitoring and health management, robots are becoming sought-after personal housekeepers for the elderly.

Ai.care.live, a family service robot built by Beijing Robint Technology Co, is designed to offer a comprehensive home safety protection network. The robot's IoT feature helps it connect with home appliances, such as gas stoves, and it initiates video calls in case of an emergency.

"Based on a large vision model, the robot's contactless safety monitoring feature can automatically detect if an elderly person falls down and can contact family members," said Dai Zhongyuan, director of the company's elderly care products department.

Equipped with facial-recognition technology, the robot identifies elderly individuals and actively supervises medication intake, he said, adding that family members are alerted if a daily dose is missed.

Furthermore, integrated devices such as blood pressure monitors and blood glucose meters, automatically sync health data and provide necessary assistance, making home-based elderly care safe and worry-free.

Robots built by the company are being used at elderly care institutions in several districts of Beijing, including Haidian, Fengtai and Chaoyang. Through cooperation with government departments and communities, the robots are also being deployed in the homes of elderly residents.

"In the future, we plan to integrate offline services, such as having robots contact community canteens to deliver meals, allowing the elderly to enjoy community canteen services at home," Dai said.

For elderly individuals with mobility issues, the exoskeleton robot from Shenzhen Kenqing Technology Co has made walking much easier. The robot, which weighs 2.4 kilograms, uses AI algorithms to intelligently adapt to different walking postures and speeds.

"Elderly people who can barely walk with a cane can walk independently and easily once they wear the exoskeleton," said Yu Yunbo, founder of the company. "For active seniors, our product helps them explore the outdoors with more confidence, without worrying about being a burden for their families."

The next generation of the product will deeply integrate AI with flexible materials, he said, adding that in the future, a user might only need to wear a special pair of pants.

"Meanwhile, we also plan to launch a customized version for seniors, further optimizing the load-bearing structure and algorithms to reduce the price to around $1,000," Yu said.