Man's best friend just went robotic in Japan.Poke-pet? E-fido? Call it what you will, soon the elderly in Japan will have a "pet robot" to watch over them and keep them company in anew a·new adv. 1. Once more; again. 2. In a new and different way, form, or manner. [Middle English : a, of (from Old English of; see of) + new , hi-tech nursing home to be built in Japan, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a leading Japanese consumer electronics company. Osaka-headquartered Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. said it would build a home with modern monitoring of residents and online diagnosis capability in Neyagawa city, western Japan. The new nursing home would use its specially developed information technology (IT) systems to meet the rising demand for high-quality facilities for Japan's growing number of senior citizens, according to the company. The company's Nursing Care Support System, Pet Robot System, and Vital Sign Monitoring System will allow frail elderly frail elderly, n.pl older persons (usually over the age of 75 years) who are afflicted with physical or mental disabilities that may interfere with the ability to independently perform activities of daily living. to be supervised without the intrusion of video cameras, Matsushita spokesman Akira Kadota said in a statement. The new facility is scheduled to open its doors to 107 residents in December 2001. It is designed to provide "high-quality individualized in·di·vid·u·al·ize tr.v. in·di·vid·u·al·ized, in·di·vid·u·al·iz·ing, in·di·vid·u·al·iz·es 1. To give individuality to. 2. To consider or treat individually; particularize. 3. care and a comfortable living environment for those who need it most," he said. A computerized, fluffy fluff·y adj. fluff·i·er, fluff·i·est 1. a. Of, relating to, or resembling fluff. b. Covered with fluff. 2. Light and airy; soft: fluffy curls; a fluffy soufflé. toy cat with an LCD screen for a face will be installed in every resident's room. The "Pet Robot System" is capable of speaking around 50 different planses, including "hello" and "how are you?". |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion