Researchers plan robot invasion

A JAPANESE academic is proposing the introduction of "smart robots" into NHS hospitals. Kazuhiko Terashima, head of Toyohashi University of Technology's new Centre for Symbiotic Human Robotics Research said his country was leading the way in developing state-of-the-art robotic technologies, but claimed the inventions were not being used as effectively as they could be. And he called for innovation to be moved from laboratories into real-world environments such as hospitals, care centres and people's own homes around the world. He said: "Researchers generally set robots a single task to perform, but in a hospital or care centre, a robot must be able to perform a variety of tasks if it is to be useful. It needs to assist a patient or aged person to sit in a chair, lie down on a bed, enter a bath, walk, practice therapy, and so on. This requires a new thinking in design, where robots are considered part of an overall system of care controlled directly by humans such as nurses and aides, who will give reassurance to patients." Mr Terashima and his team are currently collaborating with medics in Japan to put together an initial system for hospital facilities, which could be ready for market within a decade.