Editorial: Assistive and service robots for health and home applications (RH3 - Robot Helpers in Health and Home)
Journal
Frontiers in Neurorobotics
ISSN
1662-5218
Date Issued
2024-10-29
Author(s)
Paloma de la Puente
Markus Vincze
Daniel Galan
Abstract
In Choi et al. (2024), the main trends in assistive technologies for healthcare and home environments were analyzed. In that study, assistive technologies were classified into three major groups: physical aid or mobility devices, sensor and monitoring systems, and assistive robots.
In an aging society, with people living longer and a lack of medical personnel, there is undoubtedly a growing interest in the development and commercialization of robotic systems that are able to provide support at healthcare facilities and home environments (Bajones et al., 2018; Keroglou et al., 2023; Silvera-Tawil, 2024). At healthcare facilities, robots improve the diagnosis and treatment of many different diseases (mental and physical), and they help professional staff be more efficient, with more time for patients. At home, they assist to prevent accidents, and they have the potential to perform different household tasks, keep the users active with cognitive and physical activities, and raise alarms if needed.
Assistive robots designed for therapeutic purposes have proven useful in reducing agitation of elderly people and stress of caregivers (Kolstad et al., 2020).
In an aging society, with people living longer and a lack of medical personnel, there is undoubtedly a growing interest in the development and commercialization of robotic systems that are able to provide support at healthcare facilities and home environments (Bajones et al., 2018; Keroglou et al., 2023; Silvera-Tawil, 2024). At healthcare facilities, robots improve the diagnosis and treatment of many different diseases (mental and physical), and they help professional staff be more efficient, with more time for patients. At home, they assist to prevent accidents, and they have the potential to perform different household tasks, keep the users active with cognitive and physical activities, and raise alarms if needed.
Assistive robots designed for therapeutic purposes have proven useful in reducing agitation of elderly people and stress of caregivers (Kolstad et al., 2020).