Wider Image: Ageing Japan: Robots may have role in future of elder care
28/03/2018 24:00
(For the previous article in the Ageing Japan series, please
visit https://reut.rs/2GrIpfg)
By Malcolm Foster
TOKYO, March 28 (Reuters) - Paro the furry seal cries softly
while an elderly woman pets it. Pepper, a humanoid, waves while
leading a group of senior citizens in exercises. The upright
Tree guides a disabled man taking shaky steps, saying in a
gentle feminine voice, “right, left, well done!”
Robots have the run of Tokyo's Shin-tomi nursing home, which
uses 20 different models to care for its residents. The Japanese
government hopes it will be a model for harnessing the country's
robotics expertise to help cope with a swelling elderly
population and dwindling workforce.
Allowing robots to help care for the elderly - a job
typically seen as requiring a human touch - may be a jarring
idea in the West. But many Japanese see them positively, largely
because they are depicted in popular media as friendly and
helpful. (Click https://reut.rs/2IVPNAd to see a picture package
about these elder care robots.)
"These robots are wonderful," said 84-year-old Kazuko Yamada
after the exercise session with SoftBank Robotics Corp's Pepper,
which can carry on scripted dialogues. "More people live alone
these days, and a robot can be a conversation partner for them.
It will make life more fun."
Plenty of obstacles may hinder a rapid proliferation of
elder care robots: high costs, safety issues and doubts about
how useful - and user-friendly - they will be.
The Japanese government has been funding development of
elder care robots to help fill a projected shortfall of 380,000
specialised workers by 2025.
Despite steps by Japan to allow foreign workers in for elder
care, obstacles to employment in the sector, including exams in
Japanese, remain. As of the end of 2017, only 18 foreigners held
nursing care visas, a new category created in 2016.
But authorities and companies here are also eyeing a larger
prize: a potentially lucrative export industry supplying robots
to places such as Germany, China and Italy, which face similar
demographic challenges now or in the near future.
"It's an opportunity for us," said Atsushi Yasuda, director
of the robotic policy office at the Ministry of Economy, Trade
and Industry or METI. "Other countries will follow the same
trend."
More than 100 foreign groups have visited Shin-tomi the past
year from countries including China, South Korea and the
Netherlands.
A few products are trickling out as exports: Panasonic Corp
6752.T has started shipping its robotic bed, which transforms
into a wheelchair, to Taiwan. Paro is used as a "therapy animal"
in about 400 Danish senior homes.
STILL TINY
The global market for nursing care and disabled aid robots,
made up of mostly Japanese manufacturers, is still tiny: just
$19.2 million in 2016, according to the International Federation
of Robotics.
But METI estimates the domestic industry alone will grow to
400 billion yen ($3.8 billion) by 2035, when a third of Japan's
population will be 65 or older.
"It's potentially a huge market," said George Leeson,
director of the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing. "Everyone
is waking up to their ageing populations. Clearly robotics is
part of that package to address those needs."
To nurture the industry, the government is using a
two-pronged approach. METI is promoting development, providing
4.7 billion yen ($45 million) in subsidies since 2015.
The labour ministry is spearheading the spread of robots,
and spent 5.2 billion yen ($50 million) to introduce them into
5,000 facilities nationwide in the year that ended last March.
There is no government data about how many care facilities use
robots.
Government officials stress that robots will not replace
human caregivers.
"They can assist with power, mobility and monitoring. They
can't replace humans, but they can save time and labor," said
METI's Yasuda. "If workers have more time, they can do other
tasks."
THAT'S A ROBOT?
Most of the devices look nothing like the popular image of a
robot. By the government's definition, each has three components
- sensors, a processor and a motor or apparatus.
Panasonic used government aid to develop Resyone, a bed that
splits in two, with one half transforming into a wheelchair.
Cyberdyne Inc's 7779.T HAL - short for Hybrid Assistive
Limb - lumbar type is a powered back support that helps
caregivers lift people.
Those needing walking rehabilitation can grab hold of Tree,
made by unlisted Reif Co, which crawls along the ground, showing
where to place the next step and offering balance support.
SoftBank's Pepper is used in about 500 Japanese elder care
homes for games, exercise routines and rudimentary
conversations.
But some workers find Pepper difficult to set up, said
Shohei Fujiwara, a manager at SoftBank Robotics, a unit of
Internet conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp 9984.T . They'd like
Pepper to respond to voice commands and move around
independently - functions that SoftBank hopes to introduce this
year, he said.
A COSTLY SOLUTION
Cute, furry and responsive, Paro reacts to touch, speech and
light by moving its head, blinking its eyes and playing
recordings of Canadian harp seal cries.
"When I first petted it, it moved in such a cute way. It
really seemed like it was alive," giggled 79-year-old Saki
Sakamoto, a Shin-tomi resident. "Once I touched it, I couldn't
let go."
Paro took more than 10 years to develop and received about
$20 million in government support, said its inventor, Takanori
Shibata, chief research scientist at the National Institute of
Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. About 5,000 are in
use globally, including 3,000 in Japan.
But Paro, like most robots, is expensive: 400,000 yen
($3,800) in Japan and about 5,000 euros in Europe. Panasonic's
Resyone bed costs 900,000 yen ($8,600) and Cyberdyne's HAL
lumbar exoskeleton costs 100,000 yen ($950) a month to rent.
Most facilities using them, including Shin-tomi, have relied
on local and central government subsidies to help cover the
costs. Individuals can also use nursing care insurance to help
cover approved products, but those numbers are tiny.
And so far, the robots have not reduced Shin-tomi's
personnel costs or working hours.
"We haven't gotten that far yet," said Kimiya Ishikawa,
president and CEO of Silverwing Social Welfare Corp, which runs
Shin-tomi. "We brought them in mostly to improve the working
environment, keep staffers from getting back injuries and make
things safer."
What they have done, he said, is boost the morale of both
staff and residents.
"That's brought a peace of mind among the staff and the
residents feel supported," he said.
($1 = 104.8000 yen)
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Robo care IMG https://tmsnrt.rs/2DYdaFQ
Japan's aging population. img http://tmsnrt.rs/2HKy1i7
Wider Image picture package https://reut.rs/2IVPNAd
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
(Reporting and writing by Malcolm Foster
Editing by Gerry Doyle)
((malcolm.foster@thomsonreuters.com;))