Elderly Japanese Get Bored of Robots

Earlier, it was reported that Japan was turning to a robot workforce to care for their aging population, since the traditional roles of their children's spouses, or other family members, were changing due to new economic situations. Children moved away to cities for jobs, and women are increasingly joining the workforce. However, a company that is already selling robots to the elderly, says they get bored with the electronic companions after about a month. The robots, it turns out, are just not that helpful when it comes to serving the ageds' basic needs: "They want to be able to get around their house, take a bath, get to the toilet and that's about it." The company selling the ifbot also found in their survey of customers, that "Stuffed animals are more popular." Of course, my theory is that the elderly still want some kind of human interaction, and that technological solutions for helping them around the house mean bigger buttons and signs on the shrinking gadgets younger Japanese seem to like so much. Also, I just don't think robots can compete with nurse outfits!

"Ouji-sama, it's time for your bath, ne?"