Welcome to the future — Sydney aged care and retirement village first in Australia to use robots for rehabilitation

ROBOTS that do a Gangham Style dance for residents’ have been introduced to an aged care and retirement facility in Vaucluse. They can also tell stories and do crosswords.

ROBOTS which can do Tai Chi, yoga, dance, tell stories and even do crossword puzzles — welcome to the new frontier of rehabilitation.

Mark Moran Vaucluse is the first aged care and retirement village to have on-site Nao humanoid robots, which are programmed to encourage residents exercise, improve their balance, train their brains and socialise.

Murray Johnson, head of rehabilitation, said the 58cm tall robots were working wonders with residents who had once struggled to muster the enthusiasm to leave their rooms.

Mark Moran Vaucluse resident Angie Dalrymple doing Tai Chi with the NAO robots. Pictures: Phil Rogers.

The robots, invented in Japan, can walk, talk and recognise faces with the help of built in sensors and cameras.

“When you’ve got people who are ill or losing mobility, the last thing they want to do is get out of bed,” Mr Johnson said.

“We find the robots really help to motivate them because they provide a novel and interesting way of exercising.”

The NAO robots are 58cm tall and can walk, talk and recognise faces

While the robots do a hilarious Gangham Style dance for residents’ entertainment, they can also be programmed by physiotherapists to mirror mundane, but necessary, exercises tailored to residents needs.

Mr Johnson said the robots have encouraged residents to do more mundane, but necessary, exercises which can be customised to their needs.

“For example, there are exercises for people who have had a hip replacement that are very simple and repetitive. The robots make those boring exercises fun,” he said.

MMV head of rehabilitation Murray Johnson has programmed the robots to do tai chi, play soccer and sing songs.

While he laughed off the suggestion the robots could one day put him out of a job, Mr Johnson believes the new-age technology would play an important role in the future of aged care.

“I think robotics will be used more and more but they can never replace humans,” he said.

“It’s one component in the provision of holistic care.”

NAO ROBOTS HELP REHABILITATE KIDS

Clinical Operations director Jo Caughtry said the robots, which can talk, listen to instructions and even recognise faces, have also proved valuable in the treatment of dementia patients.

Leisure life leader Austin Kirby said the new-age technology has helped encouraged residents to get up and moving

The robots can help stimulate residents by doing a range of activities with them including crosswords, puzzles, storytelling and word association games.

She said staff were partnering with UNSW to do a research project on the benefits the robots could have on aged care and “brain training”.

THE ROBOTS CAN WALK, TALK AND RECOGNISE FACES

“We are finding residents who didn’t want to participate before are now coming out of their rooms and engaging with them,” she said.

Resident Angela Dalrymple said the robots had encouraged her to exercise.

“I think it’s amazing technology and they are such friendly little characters,” she said.

“It’s made a big difference for me.”

A special relationship between human and robot. The future is here today.