Ubiquitous robotics to support older adults with dementia

全球有3500多万人患有痴呆症，专家预测这一数字每20年几乎会翻一番。机器人技术被视为支持患有痴呆症的老年人的一项可行技术，通过家庭、社区和机构渠道提供一个重要的市场。然而，我们还没有看到一个有效的机器人系统在市场上提供给这一群体。缺乏市场占有率的原因被假设为两方面：1)现有系统不包括真正支持患有痴呆症的老年人所需的多样化功能；2)目前的平台过于昂贵，老年人及其家人无法在自己的家中使用。这个合作和项目的目标是扩展Crosswing的机器人平台的能力，并扩展学术团队的当前研究计划，以在一个新的市场就绪的机器人上提供以下功能：1)远程医疗/在线；2)活动监控和提示；3)安全监控和紧急响应；以及4)用户定制。目前，由于增加的计算需求、固有的复杂性，以及可能最重要的是，所产生的系统成本高得令人望而却步，在单一的机器人平台上包括这种多样化的功能是非常具有挑战性的。Crosswing将与多伦多大学和舍布鲁克大学的学术合作伙伴合作，通过使用SHARCNET的云分析平台为Crosswing目前的机器人平台VirtualME添加所需功能的新颖方法来克服这些限制。也就是说，云计算将增强机器人的车载计算能力，从而开发出首批多功能机器人解决方案之一，用于支持患有痴呆症的老年人，价格合理，并包括真正支持这一群体所需的功能。

Dementia affects more than 35 million people worldwide, and experts predict this number will almost double every 20 years. Robotics is viewed as a viable technology in the support of older adults with dementia, with a significant market available through home, community, and institutional channels. However, we have yet to see an effective robotics system for this demographic made available on the market. The reason for this lack of market uptake is hypothesized to be two-fold: 1) existing systems do not include the diverse functionality necessary to truly support older adults with dementia; and 2) current platforms are too expensive to use by older adults and their families in their own homes. This has resulted in a growing market need not being addressed.The goal of this collaboration and project is to extend the capabilities of CrossWing's robotic platform, and to expand on the current research programs of the academic team to deliver the following capabilities on a new market-ready robot: 1) tele-medicine/presence; 2) activity monitoring and prompting; 3) safety monitoring and emergency response; and 4) user customization. Currently, it is very challenging to include this diverse functionality on a single robotic platform due to the increased computational demands, the inherent complexity, and perhaps most importantly, the prohibitive cost of the resulting system. CrossWing will work with its academic partners at the University of Toronto and the University of Sherbrooke to overcome these limitations through the novel approach of using the SHARCNET's Cloud Analytics Platform to add the required functionality to CrossWing's current robotic platform-- virtualME. Namely, the robot's onboard computing capabilities will be augmented by the cloud, thus developing one of the first multi-function robotic solutions for the support of older adults with dementia that will be affordable and that includes the functions needed to truly support this demographic.