UK (Luton)
For those craving independence and interaction, a team of European academics, designers and organisations has created a consortium to support ageing by experimenting with the Care-O-bot 3 service robot.
The Accompany (Acceptable robotiCs COMPanions for AgeiNg Years) consortium researched the robotic socially-acceptable pal as part of an intelligent environment made up of cameras and sensors, with specified ethical guidelines. The interaction with the robot gives users the opportunity and confidence to carry out some tasks independently. The agile AI carer doesn’t just fetch drinks and call for help, it can gesture and provide useful assistance to an elderly user in the home.
Accompany has opened the door – with the Care-O-bot’s three-fingered gripper – to an independent and less-isolated world, with socially interacting robots as personal companions.
Project leader
Farshid Amirabdollahian, Reader (Associate Professor) in Adaptive Systems Coordinator