This holiday season, ask Grandma if she wants a robot

As Congress continues to wrangle over how to care for a growing population of elderly people, technologists are working on their own answer: robots. Exactly what a robot is, of course, has changed a lot from the days when robots were largely factory drudges. These days, robots can be as cute as pets or as efficient as a nurse.

GeckoSystems of Atlanta, Georgia, hopes to become the first U.S.-based company to deliver eldercare robots. It plans to begin selling its robots early next year, after a series of public evaluation trials. GeckoSystem’s (GCKO) CareBots include two engines: a self-navigating mobile platform that uses environmental cues and GeckoChat, a language recognition and processing engine.

“The CareBot will follow Grandma like a pet dog and tell her jokes, talk about her favorite TV shows and read her favorite bible verses,” promises CEO Martin Spencer. Over the past 10 years, GeckoSystems has spent $6 million developing its mobile CareBots, which Spencer expects will sell for $10,000 to $15,000 apiece. Spencer figures that price will look like a bargain to patients who are considering spending more than $20,000 a year for a spot in an assisted living program.

According to a recent press release from Geckosystems, their personal CareBots passed week one of evaluation trials with flying colors.

“My widower mother will be ninety-four next April. She had detached retina surgery some years ago and as an unfortunate side effect her short-term memory was reduced to only two to three minutes. So while she has many of the Alzheimer victim issues, her short-term memory has not continued to degrade as is common with most Alzheimer sufferers. However, due to this type of memory loss she has lived with my husband and me for over eight years because of her consequent frequent disorientation.

“The family is really enjoying customizing the CareBot’s persona for Mama. Mama is well known within the family for her daily ritual of at least one bowl of ice cream. So we thought to tease Mama a bit when we had the CareBot ask her, ‘Would you like a bowl of ice cream?’ When Mama heard the robot speak, she broke into a big smile and said an emphatic, ‘Yes!’ While her joyful response was not unexpected had a live person asked her, her reaction to the CareBot’s inquiry, was very heart warming. I am looking forward to further exploration of family to robot to care receiver social interaction in the coming weeks and months of these in home assistive care robot trials,” remarked the baby boomer caregiver.

“Imagine a robot in your elderly parents’ home,” Helen Grenier, co-founder of iRobot and CEO of DroidWorks writes, “allowing you to virtually visit by means of video, or one that can deliver a drink and important medication at the right time, letting the aged remain independent longer … [This is] absolutely not science fiction. … All it would take is recognizing these as critical national goals–before other countries take the lead.”

So today, when you sit down to pass the gravy and dig into the cranberry sauce, ask your Grandma what she thinks about having a robot in her home. Personal care robots cost very little in comparison to a stay in a nursing care facility, allowing older people a chance at greater and longer lasting independence. “Would you rather have a robot in your home, or be put in one?” Happy Thanksgiving!