Automatic for the people

Robots are used to rescue people from earthquakes, the military use them to bomb targets. They have appeared on the catwalk as fashion models and a robot scientist has made a discovery which could pave the way for the eradication of some diseases. But could this robot power be harnessed to bring about more independence for disabled people asks Sunil Peck and will robots ever be sophisticated enough to guide blind people or lift people in and out of a wheelchair?

There’s a short story by Ray Bradbury, originally set by him 17 years ahead of where we are now. In it, a totally automated house, complete with a fleet of robots, continues to meet all the needs of its occupants – from breakfast orange juice, toast and eggs to turning out the lights at bed time – unaware that, outside, the world is in a state of post-nuclear devastation. But could such a pessimistic and doom-laden vision of the future carry hope for disabled people?

Professor Sethu Vijayakumar, Director of the Institute of Perception, Action & Behaviour in the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh, is convinced that robots will have a significant impact on disabled people’s lives in the future.

But it will be a while before there are mobile robots capable of acting as personal assistants or assistance dogs in a completely uncontrolled environment like a busy high street. The technology already exists, says Professor Vijayakumar, to guide a blind person around in a fairly fixed, static enivironment, such as a house or an office.

Professor Vijayakumar predicts that it could be another ten years before a blind person could rely on a robot intelligent enough to walk along a pavement without the risk of straying into the middle of the road.

Researchers in Japan began developing a robot guide dog over 30 years ago. But Professor Vijayakumar says that it could take another ten years for researchers to develop a robot that can walk up and down kerbs without having to rely on infrared markers on each kerb for it to calculate the height of the step.

The car manufacturer Honda has been developing a two-legged robot since 1986. Honda’s robot, Asimo, can respond to a person’s thoughts. It is limited to moving its arms and legs at the moment, but some experts say that this technology could be used by people with communication difficulties.

But Honda is more cautious and says that it is still too early to speculate about the ways in which Asimo could help disabled people in the future. A spokesman says that it will be another ten or 15 years before Asimo can perform tasks like unloading the bags and boxes after the weekly shop or even taking care of a house when the owner is away.

But disabled people are already making use of robot technology to make their lives easier, albeit in limited ways. Mark Worsdall works for the Shadow Robot Company which makes robot hands and arms.

Mark has spinal muscular atrophy and has come up with a way to avoid the problem of locating important remote controls like the one used to operate the hoist which helps him in and out of bed.

He has attached a webcam to a commercially available robot vacuum cleaner which will move around his flat and beam pictures of its surroundings onto a screen.

“The images the camera feeds back will be compared with existing or previous images of important objects that should always be located in that particular view. If the difference between two images indicates that an object is missing, then a computer will tell me and keep telling me until I put the object back.”

Mark says that he will still have to rely on his personal assistant (PA) to put objects back if they are in a place where he cannot reach them. But he says that in 15 or 20 years he could be in a situation where he could ask a mobile robot to retrieve the remote control for him.

Gernot Kronreif is a researcher with the Austrian company Profactor who, for the past ten years, has been looking at ways in which robots can be used to assist disabled people.

He says that robot technology is incredibly advanced already. He talks about a project he was involved with for people with quadriplegia.

“With robotics, you can make a wheelchair drive autonomously. The user has a graphical display and we defined particular positions of interest in a kitchen or living room, and each place is represented by a picture. The user selects a place and the robot plans the route there.”

So why aren’t more disabled people making use of this technology?

Paul Doyle is the Assistive Technology Project Development Manager at Hereward College which has pupils with a range of disabilities. He is frustrated that his students are missing out on robot technology that could have a dramatic impact on their lives. He talks fondly of a robotic arm that had a dramatic impact on his students.

“It was an arm that attached to wheelchairs. It was useful for individuals with limited dexterity. It could be operated by a chin joystick and it could be operated by someone with head switches as well. People can feed themselves with it, pick things out of the dishwasher, prepare meals and use a computer.”

He says that one reason for the absence of this sort of technology in disabled people’s lives is manufacturers’ reluctance to produce for the mass market until they have come up with the definitive product.

He has tried to convince manufacturers to involve his students in the evaluation stage.

He says that apart from the benefits his students would derive, they would also be able to suggest ways in which the technology could be improved for future users.

But even if in 20 or 30 years time robots can operate as independent living aids, it is doubtful that they will ever supplant assistance dogs or PAs.

Margie Woodward, an assistance dog user, does not fancy the prospect of relying on a robot. “No way. It’s the companionship. A robot will never be able to give me that.”

Mark Worsdall is a self-confessed geek but reckons that it will be 30 or 40 years before a walking talking robot is able to take the place of a full-time PA.

Ian Pearson, who studies the future role of technology in society and works at the company Futurizon, says that the fact that there is a need for an aging population to take care of itself will be enough of a driving force to quicken the production of aids which use robot technology to facilitate more independence.

“There is an increasing demand for care staff and there is not an unlimited budget. So rationing is something that we are going to have to live with. We can’t have blanket healthcare throughout our lives because we are going to live too long, and there are too many of us making a demand and too few people paying taxes to pay for it all, so we have to compromise. Using robots is a way of reducing the costs enormously.”

There is a suit which is being used by people in Japan which supplements the wearer’s existing strength and ability to move by amplifying it. It is already being used by older people and by people who have had strokes and have limited movement or spinal injuries.

It is science fiction to talk about robot assistance dogs and robots performing the physically demanding job of a PA. But robot technology potentially has huge benefits for disabled people today. So the question is how can it be exploited? One solution is to adopt Mark Worsdall’s approach of harnessing existing robot technology.

Another solution could be do-it-yourself robots. If manufacturers focussed on producing robot parts for the mass market rather than expensive ready-made robots,
people could buy the parts they need to build a robot which meets their needs.