New Research into Robotic Companions for Older People
From: University of Hertfordshire - 12/02/2011
By: Hannah Broady 

Acceptable Robotics Companions for Aging Years (ACCOMPANY) is a new European
project that aims to develop a robotic system for assisting the elderly with
everyday tasks in the home. As part of the ACCOMPANY project, researchers at
the University of Hertfordshire will use a Care-o-bot 3 to assess the needs
of the elderly and how they accept the robot in an intelligent home
environment. The project will use the results to improve the technology so
that it better suits the demands and preferences of the elderly. "The
envisaged relationship between the user and the robot is that of co-learner,
whereby the robot and user provide mutual assistance and so that the user is
not dominated by technology, but feels empowered by it," says ACCOMPANY
coordinator Farshid Amirabdollahian. "Our aim is to use the robot to increase
independence and quality of life."  

Read the entire article at:
http://www.herts.ac.uk/news-and-events/latest-news/New-Research-into-Robotic-Companions-for-Older-People.cfm

Links:
Older People to Get Robotic Friends
http://healthdoctrine.com/older-people-to-get-robotic-friends/

Care-o-bot
http://www.care-o-bot.de/english/

Farshid Amirabdollahian
http://web-apps.herts.ac.uk/uhweb/about-us/profiles/profiles_home.cfm?profile=93E98391-B756-B738-BFCA0E7A647DD0C8&view=publications

New EC-Funded Project ACCOMPANY started on 1st of October 2011 
http://homepages.feis.herts.ac.uk/~fa08aap/?q=node/22