Physical and Mental Support System for Older Adults Using Communication Robot

People aged 65 and over are generally referred to as older adult, and these people often require physical and mental support. Therefore, we developed a physical and mental support system for the older adults by using the communication robot, Unibo. In daily physical support, it is important to be able to obtain vital values quickly and easy to check them, and in mental support, communication is important. Hence the system measures body temperature, blood pressure, and pulse rate and provides physical support for contacting medical institutions about the measurements and mental support for reducing loneliness and anxiety through conversations and games. The experimental results demonstrated that the system has the potential to relieve loneliness and anxiety in the older adults while aiding medical institutions in obtaining measurement data directly. Moreover, the system was demonstrated to be a friendly verbal communication interface for older adults.