Robots Rushing to our Relief
Technology promises to ease boomers' passage into old age

by Steve Johnson

America's baby boomers can expect a big lift of sorts when they reach old age: robots that do the laundry, lug heavy loads, make fresh coffee, even take out the trash.

That's just for starters. Other gadgets would open doors when they go for a stroll, warn them of slippery spots on sidewalks, give authorities their exact location if they fall, and monitor their mattress pressure to prevent bedsores.

There may even be ultrasonic bladder sensors to tell incontinent boomers when to go to the bathroom and intelligent machines dubbed "de-puddlers" to clean up after those who fail to reach the bathroom in time.

Futuristic gadgets hold promise of easing life with disabilities

Charles Burgar demonstrates a supportive treadmill that allows frail users to walk under less gravity. (Photo Credit - Len Lahman, Mercury News)

It may sound far-fetched. But specialists in the field of "assistive technology" - devices designed to help the disabled become more independent - insist it isn't. The development of such products is likely over the next two decades, they say, due largely to the relative size, wealth, and long life expectancy of boomers compared with previous generations.

Moreover, they say, with government's ability to provide health care already severely strained, keeping the elderly living independently as long as possible is essential.

"It's cheaper for society to keep people at home than to fund nursing homes," said Charles Burgar, medical director of the Veterans Administration's Rehabilitation Research and Development Center in Palo Alto. And he believes that message is spreading, adding, "You can't believe the explosion of assistive technologies within the last year."

Among other things, Burgar's center is testing a new treadmill exerciser for people with weakened legs to use in their homes. It has an inflatable bag that fits around the person's waist and allows the person to float on a cushion of air. By taking weight off the persons's legs, Burgar said, the machine helps people who otherwise are too frail to exercise to gradually build up strength to walk.

Evidence suggests a lot of people might need such things in the not-too-distant future.

About 3.1 million people aged 65 or older have some physical or mental problem that affects their ability to walk, dress, fix meals and do other everyday tasks, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. And their numbers are growing fast. Not only is the elderly population expected to double over the next two decades, its life expectancy is lengthening, too. And as people live longer, their susceptibility to disability increases dramatically.

Increasing numbers

While about 9 percent of those aged 65 to 69 need help with everyday activities, according to census data, that figure jumps to nearly 20 percent of those 75 to 79, and 50 percent of those 85 and older. Furthermore, people are having fewer children who can look after them.

It all adds up to a big opportunity for companies like Barrier Free Lifts Inc. of Virginia, which makes a device resembling an amusement ride that lets a disabled person scoot from one room to another in a motorized harness attached to overhead tracks.

"You've got an increasingly large geriatric population and you've got less people to take care of them," said Barrier's Ted Hensley. "Consequently, technology has to be relied on more."

For some, the price tag could pose a problem. Barrier's lifts sell for $5,000 to $10,000 fully installed. The cost of some of the robots being proposed has been estimated at $100,000. That could make equal access to them an issue for Latinos and African-Americans, who earn less on average than whites and are statistically more likely to be disabled in old age.

Nevertheless, those involved in the industry insist that many of the gadgets being discussed will cost no more than a television set or other home appliances. Moreover, they say, the growth of assistive technology is bound to benefit disabled people of all ages.

That would include Jan Elix, who has been disabled for 30 years and oversees San Jose's therapy programs for others with disabilities. Elix, who gets around in a wheelchair that she can attach to her van with a hoist, would love to see more products to help people like her.

'Amazing'

Vann Majors, who suffered a stroke, exercises on a therapeutic bicycle with coaching from therapist David A. Brown. The bike prevents upper strain and measures various vital signs. (Photo Credit - Len Lahman, Mercury News)

"It's amazing to me the things they've come up with," she said.

They range from talking clocks and wall-mounted jar openers to lighted magnifying glasses and portable lifts that can raise or lower a person in or out of a chair. Rehab Robotics Ltd. of England has built a robot that it says can help people eat, drink, shave, play games, brush their teeth, and put on makeup. And the visually impaired can now "read" with the help of computerized machines that speak aloud the printed words they scan.

Most such reading devices can only scan flat surfaces. But using financing from the National Institute on Aging and U.S. Education Department, Ascent Technology Inc. of Colorado has built one that it says reads curved surfaces - everything from soup cans to medicine jars.

If researchers have their way, that's only the beginning. Among the gizmos under study:

Mind joggers - Some would nag the forgetful with voice sages at preset times - to take a prescription drug, for example. others would sound alarms if the person wandered away from home, provide the person's precise location to authorities so he or she could be tracked down and alert loved ones if the person's heart rate changed.

Mobility boosters - They range from wheelchairs equipped with toilets to car sensors that would warn elderly motorists if they get too close to other vehicles. Also proposed is a motorized walker that would automatically adjust its speed to the user's gait and heart rate.

Smart helpers - These include such things as the depuddler, which "could locate urine, clean it, dry it, deodorize the 'accident' area and move on," as one research paper by Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute described it. Researchers also envision kitchen appliances that turn on and off by voice command, machines that wash and dry laundry without someone having to move clothes from one machine to the other, and micro-electronics implanted in a person's hat or brain - that give a prosthetic limb a lifelike feel.

Even if most such things can be built in the next 20 years, as some experts maintain, it's unclear how widely they would be used. Studies of older disabled people have found many unaware of the assistive technology already on the market. Others refuse to use such gadgets, because they feel uncomfortable with new technology or don't want to be identified as disabled. But Joseph Lane, associate director of the Center for Assistive Technology in New York, doesn't think that will be a problem with baby boomers.

They've grown up with high tech, he said, and, as a group, do not hold the stereotypes and prejudices that some of the previous generations have held." Besides he added, they seem hardly the type to refuse anything designed to make their lives easier.

"We've had everything all of our lives," said the 43 year-old Lane, himself a boomer. "And we're spoiled."