Robotics and Autonomous Systems for Social Care Tony

Robotics and Autonomous Systems for Social Care Tony Prescott Sheffield Robotics

The Crisis in UK Social Care Population ageing Spending flat-lining Lack of integrated services incidence of disability increases with age from around 18% of those of working age to 44% of those over state pension age • Nearly 1 in 8 older people in the UK (1. 2 million people) living with some level of unmet care need (Age UK) • • 2 “The UK population is ageing rapidly, but the Government and our society are woefully underprepared” The House of Lords, Ready for Ageing? , 2013 EPSRC UK-RAS NETWORK

Life Challenges In the UK, nearly seven million adults of working age and around three-quarters of a million children are living with some form of disability It is my wish and it’s my challenge to you and to others out there to build me a robot. Yes, that’s right a robot! […]]. This robot would become my hands and legs [. . . ] the challenges I face everyday get bigger and far greater to overcome. I know I can overcome these challenges but I need your help. Joanne O’Riordan, Speech to the United Nations, April 2012 3

Our Opportunity “Humans are not disabled. A person can never be broken. Our built environment, our technologies, are broken and disabled. We the people need not accept our limitations, but can transcend disability through technological innovation. ” Hugh Herr Technologist at MIT Media Lab and Campaigner for the Rights of People with Disability. 4

A Connected Care Eco-System We propose a role for RAS that, together with Telehealth, connects together support at home, in residential care, and in hospital Hospitals Better support for independent living can ease the transition from hospital back to the home (or care home) freeing up vital resources A sudden physical failing or loss of social support can lead to a drop in self-confidence. RAS technologies can provide help through such a transition that could avert an early move into institutionalised care Telecare Residential Care at Home

Healthcare at Home and Rehabilitation As the demography of the population changes, and as healthcare technologies become more portable the boundaries between what constitutes social care and what we is considered to be healthcare will become increasingly blurred Robotic and virtual reality (VR) systems can support rehabilitation both in hospital and at home leading to much improved results in long-term recovery “With escalating demands on healthcare resources the only way to deliver the rehabilitation people need is to automate routine therapy using robotic devices” Professor Rory J O'Connor, Leeds School of Medicine EPSRC UK-RAS NETWORK

Two Kinds of Need Help in maintaining the home and a healthy lifestyle. As we enter later life, we retain intellectual and physical function but face challenges in maintaining our environments through a gradual decline in physical agility, sensing, and mental acuity Help with the physical challenges facing those living with frailty or with long-term illness or disability. At some point many of us face additional challenges of acute or chronic illness that can lead to increased difficulty in looking after our physical selves From Three Sisters Care 7

Support for Daily Living Home-help robots 8 Driverless Vehicles Companion Robots

Help with Physical Challenges Dressing, Feeding, Toileting Intelligent Furniture 9 Exoskeletons

Research Challenges • • Scene awareness Social intelligence Physical intelligence Communication Dialogue User Interfaces Memory/Learning • Long-term autonomy • Dynamic autonomy and responsibility • Verification and validation • Sustainability • Integration, networking and security • New robot designs 10

A Research Roadmap Robotic devices for maintenance of the home and support for activity of daily living UK 65+ pop. RAS provide help with a wider range of physical tasks including dressing, eating and toileting RAS provide safe, dextrous close physical interaction for care support 19 16 14 11 8 2018 11 2025 2035

Mobilising Stakeholders The greatest societal and economic benefit will be obtained if we develop both hardware and software components of RAS care systems in the UK Building these systems can create new jobs for skilled workers as part of the emerging “Industry 4. 0” economy 12

A Participatory Design Approach • Information Gathering Designers interact with stakeholders seeking information on which to base design • Concept Development Solution or Redesign? • Designers synthesize information into visual concepts and physical models for user assessment The evaluation may conclude that the system can be used in practice, or that further cycles are needed • Design Refinement Selected conceptual designs are taken forwards into specifications for working systems Evaluation • Carers and users test prototype solution in progressively more realistic settings • Prototyping 13 Building on feedback from the previous two design phases, a full working prototype is developed incorporating behavioural capabilities

Ethical and Societal Issues • Security and Privacy • Transparency • Autonomy of decisionmaking • RAS systems as marketing tools • Respect, dignity, and the right to human care • Impacts on carers • Governance 14

Conclusions • The ageing population in the UK, and across the globe, will create unprecedented societal challenges • RAS technologies can help people maintain active and healthy lifestyles and can play an important future role in physical aspects of care, in rehabilitation and in medical assistance • A connected and integrated approach is needed to provide appropriate forms of assistance at home, in residential care, and in hospital • The use of robots in care must be approached with sensitivity and with consideration to ethical and societal issues • The innovation culture in the UK combined with a thriving academic base and burgeoning SME sector means that the UK can be a global leader in RAS technologies for Social Care 15