TOKYO – Japanese scientists have come up with a robot resembling a huge, happy teddy bear to help look after hospital patients.
RIBA, Robot for Interactive Body Assistance, which can lift a weight of 61 kg on its foam padded arms, is the work of the government-run Riken research institute.
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“We have developed RIBA because we want to help caregivers when they are required to transfer patients between hospital beds and wheelchairs,” said Mukai.
The robot, that can also recognise faces and voices and respond to up to 30 spoken commands, may be seen in hospitals and retirement homes within three years.
Mukai said battery-powered RIBA was based on a teddy bear because humanoid versions could leave people uncomfortable
Just discovered this blog thru Bing, what a pleasant shock!
@chels I know what you mean, its hard to find good help these days. People now days just don’t have the work ethic they used to have. I mean consider whoever wrote this post, they must have been working hard to write that good and it took a good bit of their time I am sure. I work with people who couldn’t write like this if they tried, and getting them to try is hard enough as it is.