As healthcare robots can be quite a good replacement for humans. They can stay with the elderly in their homes, remind them to take their medicines, fetch things for them when required, and alert the hospital in case of an emergency. The only drawback is that robots so far have been, well…robotic.

They show no emotion and can not exactly be companions in a social sense. This is what researchers at the University of Hertfordshire are working on remedying with the Care-O-bot® 3. The robot works in a smart-home environment helping the elderly from becoming isolated and warding off loneliness by offering stimulating activities.

Dr Farshid Amirabdollahian leads the team on a science project called ACCOMPANY (Acceptable Robotics Companions for Ageing Years). The team includes nine partner institutions from across five European countries who have worked together for the last three years on this robotic solution. The project focuses on the ability of the robot to recall and remember experiences it undergoes.

Dr Amirabdollahian said that “This project proved the feasibility of having companion technology, while also highlighting different important aspects such as empathy, emotion, social intelligence as well as ethics and its norm surrounding technology for independent living.” Should the robots seem viable they will become the first formal/informal health care givers across France, the Netherlands and the UK.