Pepper is a humanoid robot by Aldebaran Robotics and SoftBank Mobile designed with the ability to read emotions. It was introduced in a conference a few years ago in Japan and was made available to the public on February 2015 at a base price of JPY 198,000 ($1,931) at Softbank Mobile stores. Pepper’s emotion comes from the ability to analyze expressions and voice tones.
It’s no secret that Japan is facing severe socio-economic pressures due to its aging, shrinking population. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the field of elder care.
But there is one solution to both the human and financial pressures of an aging globe: robotic caregivers. It’s a concept Japan’s been pushing for a while now—in 2013 and 2014 especially, the Japanese government poured millions into incentivizing eldercare robotics development. Many have looked at Japan’s kawaii and cuddly droids and rolled their eyes, questioning whether or not such technologies could ever really gain traction with the rest of the world. But over the past couple of years, elder care robot research and development has grown more conventional and cheaper, producing products with greater functionality and broader consumer acceptance.
Pepper’s developers hope the robot will be able to take on more complex tasks such as caring for the sick and elderly to help address the labor shortage in a rapidly aging Japan. But since Pepper lacks the dexterity to do household chores and can only move around on flat surfaces, its primary use will be as an indoor communications tool.
Watch an interview with the robot here.
Nobody loves technology more than we do at Regency Nursing Centers. It’s why we use the most advanced technology in healthcare for the betterment and healing of our patients.
Still, our primary asset and the one defining and distinguishing characteristic which sets us apart from all of our would-be competitors, is the compassionate staff – THE PEOPLE who make up the Regency family of caregivers!
Nobody has more compassionate and dedicated personnel than we do and we are extremely proud of it!
No robot can successfully compete with our caregivers.
I should note here that our beloved Regency Founder & President brought this robot (and his increasing impact on the Healthcare sector) to my attention earlier today.
He sent me a photo of Pepper…along with the following message:
“Pepper concept is neat, but no android can compete with our incredible staff, nor do I require robots to care for our patients!”
Yes, we all agree with you, Mr. Gross.
