Robot Helper for Elderly
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries recently announced a robot equipped with  a voice machine designed to serve as a "caretaker" for the elderly and sick people. The one-meter-tall, bubble-headed robot will go on sale at a cost of 1 million yen in April next year. The robot is targeting the families of elderly people and those living alone. There is a camera in its eyebrow and programmed with some visual recognition – particularly so it can recognize its master. It is named “Wakamaru” and it is also equipped with a voice machine and a vocabulary of some 10,000 Japanese words to ensure nothing is left to misunderstanding.
It can say things like “it's time for you to go to work” or "You are home late, aren't you?" or "Are you O.K.?" when the master remains silent. The robot is equipped with functions to help elderly people and those in poor health send an alarm to hospitals, security firms and relatives when an emergency happens.
For that much money, they could hire a full-time human.
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11:17:09 PM 
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