Tag: ELDERLY

A Japanese researcher has created a robot that is designed to treat depression in seniors with dementia. Masayoshi Kano's Babyloid, which was inspired by the looks of a baby beluga whale, measuers 17 inches long and weighs about five pounds. It can move its stubby arms, round head, thin mouth and beady eyes while making baby noises. The bot's faces features LEDs that help to mimic human ...

Scientists have already discovered a variety of health benefits that video games offer to elderly gamers, including heightened mental acuity and vision restoration. After performing a 10-week observational study, Dr. Patricia Kahlbaugh of Southern Connecticut State University now believes that motion control gaming alleviates other afflictions that commonly plague senior citizens, including ...

As communication has moved increasingly to the digital realm -- especially into the world of social networking -- some seniors have struggled to keep up with their families and these increasingly alien technologies. To help bridge the generational gap, tech-savvy teenagers are stepping in, and getting their elders online. There are, of course, some stumbling blocks. Teens who have grown up ...

As our fearless Jon Chase noted mere days ago, the robots will conquer the world by first earning the trust of our children and old folks. As befits the country that brought smallpox to our northeastern shores, a laboratory in Bristol, England is developing the race of robo-nurses that will inevitably turn hospices into hostage situations. A joint project between the University of Bristol and ...

Panasonic is set to unveil this entirely non-threatening, hair-washing robot at the International Home Care & Rehabilitation Exhibition in Tokyo next month. Designed for the elderly in assisted living facilities, the 'bot works in conjunction with a mechanical bed that transforms into a wheelchair, thereby preventing granny from shouting racial slurs at the orderlies (or, "easing the burden ...

Strolling around with your wheelchair-bound loved ones might one day be a whole lot less stressful, thanks to a new robotic wheelchair created in Japan. Designed by researchers at Saitama University's Human-Robot Interaction Center, the wheelchair uses distance sensors and built-in cameras to keep track of a pedestrian's position, allowing the chair to remain on the left-hand side of its targeted ...

Ivy Bean, from Bradford, England, definitely wasn't your average Twitterer. She had a staggering 57,000 people following her IvyBean104 handle, and, thanks to her viral popularity, managed to work her way into meetings with British politicians and celebrities, alike. Oh, and at 104-years young, she was the world's oldest microblogger. Late Tuesday, though, Bean passed away at the care ...

Share Last month, more than 6 million senior citizens joined Facebook, representing the fastest-growing age demographic among the site's entire membership base. With this surge in elderly users, though, comes a surge in dying users -- something that Facebook has struggled to handle with grace. As part of its effort to connect us with people with we fall out of touch with, Facebook uses a ...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved a miniature eye implant that promises to drastically improve vision in the elderly by replicating and enhancing the eye's natural lens. According to CBC News, VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies got the go-ahead from the FDA to continue implanting a miniature telescope into the eyes of elderly people who are suffering from end-stage ...

Recent developments in medical science have enabled patients with heart conditions to experience unprecedented methods of surgery and rehabilitation. Tireless and precise remote-controlled robots provide doctors with "complete control" over surgical procedures, and an advanced and minimized artificial heart recently allowed a father to leave the hospital for the first time in two years. Aside ...

With mid-term election season fast approaching, members of Congress are scrambling to reach out to their constituencies, plaster their campaign slogans across TV sets, and hug as many babies as possible before November. And, as you'd expect, social networking is playing a central role in many a campaign -- even those run by the eldest of lawmakers. Missouri Democratic Representative Ike ...

As you know, there's a bounty of 3-D TVs set to hit stores this year. Everybody's raving about the additional dimension, but nobody's talking much about the toll of watching hours of 3-D programming could have on your health. PC World found some interesting warnings on Samsung's Web site that bring to light some real questions. As it turns out, children, teenagers, old people, pregnant women and ...

When Japanese senior citizens said they'd much rather cuddle with a stuffed animal than walk around the house with a fancy robot companion, the anti-cyborg overtones of their pleas were all too clear. Fujitsu, though, apparently remains unconvinced that Japan's elderly really know what they want. Which is why they've designed a brand new teddy bear... that's also a robot. According to ...

As neuroscientists and genetic researchers continue to look for an answer to Alzheimer's disease, health care professionals have had to develop new approaches to treating the condition, which now affects a growing number of more than five million Americans. With no cure for the progressive brain disorder on the horizon, many doctors have created new programs aimed at enhancing people's cognitive ...

Don't snicker at these knickers. Incontinence, or involuntarily leakage, is no laughing matter, especially for the elderly. But now, Australian company Simavita has created a new system that could revolutionize caring for the elderly and infirm. According to Engadget, the SIMsystem is the world's first texting underwear. By outfitting a patient's underwear with a replaceable pad equipped with ...