Watson-Powered Robot Aimed at Aiding Elderly and Caregivers
From: ECN - 12/09/2016

IBM Research today announced the creation of the prototype IBM Multi-Purpose
Eldercare Robot Assistant (IBM MERA) done in collaboration with Rice
University. IBM MERA is a first of a kind Watson-enabled application designed
to help assist the elderly and their caregivers. IBM Research also has plans
to work with Sole Cooperativa, an independent healthcare provider in Italy,
to instrument senior housing with sensors to monitor day-to-day activities of
its residents.

IBM created the prototype robot with students and faculty from Rice
University's departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering and
Psychology, and it is being hosted inside the IBM "Aging in Place" research
environment. IBM MERA will be used to help study innovative ways of measuring
an individual's vital signs, such as heart rate, heart rate variability and
respiratory rate; answer basic health-related questions; and, determine if an
individual has fallen by reading the results of an accelerometer.

Running on the IBM Cloud and a Softbank Pepper robot interface, IBM MERA uses
IBM Watson technologies and CameraVitals, a technology designed at Rice
University that calculates vital signs by recording video of a person's face.
These technologies allow IBM MERA to obtain fast, noninvasive readings on a
patient's heart and breathing measurements that can be done multiple times
per day. Combined with IBM Watson Speech to Text and Text to Speech APIs, the
camera can also view if a fall has occurred and provide information for
caregivers.

IBM MERA is also designed to interact with individuals using IBM Watson
Speech to Text, Text to Speech, and Natural Language Classifier APIs so we
can study how they could receive answers to health-related questions (e.g.
"What are the symptoms of anxiety?" or "What is my heart rate?").

Read the entire article at:
https://www.ecnmag.com/news/2016/12/watson-powered-robot-aimed-aiding-elderly-and-caregivers

Links:
IBM Research and Rice University Explore Watson-Powered Robot Aimed at
  Aiding Elderly and Caregivers
https://www.pddnet.com/news/2016/12/robotic-hand-cornell-may-advance-prosthetics

World Population Ageing
http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/publications/pdf/ageing/WPA2015_Report.pdf

Rice and IBM explore Watson-powered robot designed to aid elderly and
  caregivers
http://news.rice.edu/2016/12/08/rice-and-ibm-explore-watson-powered-robot-designed-to-aid-elderly-and-caregivers

Cognitive machines assist independent living as we age (with videos: 2:33, 4:15, 2:07)
https://www.ibm.com/blogs/research/2016/12/cognitive-assist

Tour the IBM "Aging in Place" Environment
http://ageandability.com/2016/12/08/tour-the-ibm-aging-in-place-environment

Age Matters: Preparing for the Billion Elder Future
https://www.ibm.com/blogs/think/2016/12/age-matters

Sole Cooperativa
http://www.solecooperativa.com (in Italian)
https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=it&u=http://www.solecooperativa.com (in English)

Softbank Pepper
http://www.softbank.jp/en/robot

CameraVitals
http://sh.rice.edu/camera_vitals.html

IBM Develops a Voice-Enabled Eldercare Robot
http://www.speechtechmag.com/Articles/News/Speech-Technology-News-Features/IBM-Develops-a-Voice-Enabled-Eldercare-Robot-115261.aspx