Tokyo University designs robots to help elderly people with dementia.

TOKYO, JAPAN (FEBRUARY 20, 2009) REUTERS -
For people who are suffering from dementia or simply forgetful,
Japanese robots could offer some good news.

The University of Tokyo has developed a series of "reminder
robot" prototypes designed to help elderly people by reminding them of
where they have put items or what they have done already.

One such robot, "Mamoru," which means "to protect"
in Japanese, watches every move its owner makes and gives a verbal warning if
he or she tries to take the same action twice.

For example, when a man enters a room with a box of medicines, Mamoru
immediately recognises it and says: "That's medicine."
As the robot watches the man take the medicine, it says, "You're
taking medicine."
If the man attempts to take the medicine a second time, the robot says,
"Don't take it again." and, in this case, when the man asks the
robot if he has taken his medicine already, Mamoru says, "You took it 31
seconds ago." .

Another reminder robot called IPMR-3, monitors a room with cameras and
sensors to keep track of exactly where pre-registered objects in the room have
been placed.
"Not just elderly people, but also young people might find this
system useful when they cannot find something after somebody else in their
family has put it away. So it can be useful for people of all ages," said
Keita Takahashi, an assistant professor at the Information and Robot
Technology Research Initiative (IRT), the robot lab of the University of
Tokyo.

The wheelchair-like machine tells the user where the items are both
verbally and visually, and then takes the user to those locations.

Both robots are still in the early stages of development, and
researchers say it would take at least five years for them to be sold
commercially.