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| Tessa the robot: Photo: Tinybots.nl |
A robot which helps people with dementia remember what they
should be doing and when will start a mass testing programme from this week.
Robots and sensors designed to help people live independently at home are
considered by the Dutch health ministry to be key to combating the shortage of
care workers. And consultancy KPMG said
last year that robots will be able to take over 30% of repetitive household chores
within five years.
The Tessa robot was developed by Dutch robotics company
Tinybots, which was launched in 2015. A successful pilot project involving 50
Tessas has been rounded off and now 500 robots have been released for use. Some
300 of them have been ordered in advance for the testing programme and 200 are
still up for grabs.
‘The more research and tests we do, the more we see that a
large group of people benefit from having a friend like Tessa,’ said Wang Long
Li, one of Tinybot’s two founders. ‘Our dream is to give these people at home
and abroad more control over their lives.’
Going for a walk
Care staff and
family members can programme Tessa using a simple app or send messages via
Tessa directly to the patient. The robot can be used to remind people when to
have breakfast or to cook and to make suggestions about things to do, ,such as
listening to music or going for a walk.
The NRC quoted the case of Toon van
Santvoord, whose Tessa reminds him to eat and to take medication. At 11.45, Tessa tells him to warm up soup for
lunch. Thirty minutes later, the robot repeats the message just in case Toon
has not reacted.’
‘Without Tessa, I cannot go away for a whole morning,’
Gertrude van Sandvoort told the paper. ‘My husband forgets I’m away. Even if i just
go to the corner shop I make sure Tessa will remind him of what he needs. It
works better than a note,’ she says. A three-year subscription to Tessa costs
€1 a day.
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