July 29, 2004
WE'LL ALWAYS HAVE PARTS-PLUS:
Robots Help Japan Care For Its Elderly (Popular Mechanics, June 2004)
Borrowing an idea from the auto industry, Japanese nursing homes have begun experimenting with using robots to help care for the elderly. At one nursing home run by Matsushita Electric, a package of sensors is placed inside a teddy bear. From time to time, the bear asks its human companion a question. Then, judging by the response time, it decides whether a nursing assistant should be called. One of the most labor-intensive nursing home tasks is bathing frail residents. For this job, Sanyo Electric has introduced what is essentially a robot bathtub. Costing about $50,000, it closes around a patient who is seated in a wheelchair. The wash and rinse cycles operate automatically. A nurse's aide takes care of washing hair and toweling the resident off. Japan's need for elder-care robots is partially driven by a falloff in its national birthrate, which has left the country with too few young to care for the old.
They're dehumanizing their culture--which was never terribly life-affirming to begin with--as fast as they can, but they're mystified by their high suicide rates? Posted by Orrin Judd at July 29, 2004 10:27 AM
Dehumanizing it might be, but what else are they gonna do ?
It's either robots, or Philippinoes and Koreans, and the Japanese aren't noted for embracing foreigners.
Posted by: Michael Herdegen at July 29, 2004 11:22 AMOJ
Japanese don't want to dishonor their family or be an undue burden. That's the primary motivation and I don't think of it as particularly offensive at least as far as motivation goes.
The issue of whether they would like to have foreign "servants" could be read as having the courage, positive attitude to be willing to do less esteemed work themselves.
Posted by: h-man at July 29, 2004 11:58 AMYou gotta admit though, those robots would be pretty cool.
Posted by: Brandon at July 29, 2004 12:06 PMOJ
I understand the Japanese are developing a automatic pumice-scraping stone also. Just push a button and step back and open a beer and watch the Bosox.
h:
Yes, but only racist idiots think it would dishonor their nation to import some Philippino workers.
Posted by: oj at July 29, 2004 12:25 PMA high tech bathtub is 'dehumanizing'? Are wheelchairs also dehumanizing? Why not import people to carry the handicapped around in their arms?
If I were old, I would rather be able to care for myself with the assistance of robots than be dependant on low wage servants who don't speak the same language I do. It's less embarassing, and robots don't steal and aren't abusive.
Posted by: Carter at July 29, 2004 1:24 PMDon't smell either or carry verboten germs.
Posted by: oj at July 29, 2004 1:28 PMSeven years ago I was in Japan and witnessed a toilet that must have been the precursor of this bathtub. After you finish your business, you can press keys on a control panel to have the toilet wash and then blow-dry your butt.
I'm afraid to imagine where the Japanese will take this in 7 more years ...
Posted by: pj at July 29, 2004 1:35 PMAre you suggesting we treat our old folks better than they do?
I'd like to take you on a tour.
Posted by: Harry Eagar at July 29, 2004 2:24 PMWhen I'm old and infirm, I'd rather have a robot wash me than a 21 year old guy with a bolt through his nose.
Japanese society sucks, but these robots are cool.
Posted by: Robert Duquette at July 29, 2004 6:22 PMOJ, there _is_ a strong streak of racist idiocy in the Japanese culture. We're talking about a nation, after all, where Little Black Sambo figurines are still considered lovable knickknacks and vestiges of the old caste system are still in effect (families hire private detectives to find out whether potential husbands/wives come from a _burukamin_ - what used to be called an _eta_, the Japanese equivalent of the "untouchable" caste - background.) Their one significant minority population is the Koreans, and I think we all know what Japan did to Korea.
Also, I note that it's positively risible to see the culture in which ritual suicide was venerated for so long as the ultimate expression of knightly honor wringing its hands over suicide rates.
Posted by: Joe at July 29, 2004 6:50 PMI guess the Japanese have been reading my Tech Central Station articles again! ;)
Posted by: Ed Driscoll at July 29, 2004 6:58 PM