"Hey robot, where is my drink?" : Project agebots ; multidisciplinary perspectives on service robotics in the field of elderly care

Abstract

Service robotics offers great potential for retirement and nursing homes. In the present project Agebots (Implementation of service robotics in the field of elderly care), founded by the Swiss Innovation Agency (Innosuisse), a multidisciplinary team is investigating and testing the implementation of service robotics in elderly care. The pursued dimensions are human, technology, business, and law. The project is carried out in cooperation with two implementation partners: a retirement and nursing home and a robot manufacturer, both based in Switzerland. The project is still ongoing and will be completed by 2022. So far, the use of robots in elderly care has proven to be challenging regarding all different dimensions. These challenges have yet to be overcome to ensure a safe implementation that adds value for both caregivers and the elderly and efficiently supports the operations at the retirement and nursing home. The human centered and iterative approach of the present project allows an early identification of potential challenges and the end-users’ needs. This way, the challenges can be addressed proactively, prior to the implementation in the retirement and nursing home.