In many parts of the world, people are living longer. As health and physical performance deteriorates, help is needed, but employing a full-time nurse can be costly. New developments in communications technology is providing alternatives, such as GiraffPlus. This is a pan-European, EU-funded project that uses technology to monitor the elderly in their own homes. The system has already been tested in a demo apartment in Örebro, Sweden. Now GiraffPlus is being taken further afield to be tested in real homes in see Sweden, Italy and Spain.
The hub of the system and the interface between user and care giver is the remote-controlled Giraff mobile robot. Already being used in other remote healthcare projects, this “Skype on wheels” features a display and loudspeaker that allows healthcare professionals to make virtual house call.
via Gizmag
