image credit- PolyU
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NEC Hong Kong (NECHK) to provide intelligent interactive social robots for older adults and their caregivers.
A series of research projects will also be carried out to investigate the effects of using social robots on managing self-care and to encourage older adults’ proactive engagement in interpersonal activities to foster a physically and mentally healthy life.
In cooperation with NECHK, Prof Angela Yee Man LEUNG, Associate Head (Research) of the School of Nursing of PolyU, and her team from the School of Nursing have developed five social robots to provide companionship and support for the daily activities of older adults. The team will use the robots to conduct a series of research projects titled "Social Robots for Old Adults and Caregivers".
The first ongoing study is "The Presence of Humanoid Robots with Older Adults at Homes", which investigates whether older adults would accept and enjoy interacting with robots at home, and the preliminary effect of the robots on loneliness, cognition, medication adherence, and mental and social well-being.
