Life (fortunately) it gets longer and longer, but alongside new opportunities it also poses problems for an increasingly large population of older people to face. A small fleet of assisting androids is in the process of reaching homes and institutions to support the elderly in everyday life, keeping their mind in training and preventing their psychophysical degradation.
The Internet of Things and AI work in synergy in the project which will involve 30 elderly people in Italy (Milan) and Spain (Extremadura): its name is MoveCare.
What MoveCare is all about
The initiative, which is part of the Horizon2020 programme, involves the University of Milan, leading a consortium of 14 entities. Patients will be involved in a course lasting 10 weeks.
The system will achieve a complete synergy between multiple platforms: robotics, management, home automation. The “terminal” of this approach will be an assistive robot called Giraffa. Giraffe is an autonomous "companion" who interacts with the elderly person.
The future is made of real friends. And not only.
Depending on the needs, Giraffa can be independent and for example help the elderly person by looking for an object he cannot find, or controlled remotely with a tele-operator who can help and assist in particular cases.
Subsequent phases of the project involve increasing its performance by adding to its equipment a 3D camera capable of 'mapping' the surrounding environment and thus having even greater awareness of the help to be provided.
This will make it easier to establish a good emotional relationship between the elderly person and the robot: the latter will in turn be able to communicate with the home automation systems by turning on the lights or gas, regulating the home climate, answering the intercom or carrying out other operations.
