＜今回開発する「ソーシャルロボット」の主な特長＞ |  | |
| Demonstration test at the nursing care luxury elderly home 'deere Kobe' (July 2024) | ||
Kawasaki Heavy Industries has begun full-scale development to achieve the social implementation of a social robot capable of conversing with individuals with dementia to address the issue of labor shortage in the caregiving field. Based on the insights gained from previous demonstration tests at caregiving facilities, development will progress with the aim of officially providing them to caregiving facilities.
In recent years, there has been a serious shortage of labor in the caregiving field, posing a major challenge to the caregiving industry. Particularly in caregiving for individuals with dementia, which requires a significant amount of time and effort, the impact of labor shortage could lead to insufficient communication time with individuals with dementia, potentially resulting in inadequate care. Our company is addressing this challenge by developing a social robot that can be utilized in caregiving settings, aiming to maintain and improve the quality of care while creating a more conducive working environment for caregiving staff and solving labor shortages.
As part of the development considerations, a prototype social robot has been used in a demonstration test at the nursing care luxury elderly home 'deere Kobe' (operated by JR West Japan Properties Co., Ltd.) in July 2024 to address concerns such as the unique aspects of dementia-related conversations, including repetitive and irregular conversations. It has been confirmed that conversations between individuals with dementia and robots are possible. Moving forward, efforts will be made to enhance communication functions utilizing AI technology that can be applied to a variety of dementia stages. Additionally, based on the needs identified during this demonstration test, the incorporation of monitoring features for individuals with dementia will also be considered.
| - | Addressing the specific conversation repetition and irregularity typical of dementia. | |
| - | Skillfully switch topics to prevent fatigue and boredom in people with dementia. | |
| - | Speak slowly and gently, while nodding, giving verbal cues, and paraphrasing while actively listening. | |
| - | Ask questions in a way that makes it easier for individuals with dementia to respond, enabling continued conversation as much as possible. | |
| - | Recognize the other person and learn past conversation content. Engage in conversations tailored to the characteristics of the other person. | |
| - | In place of caregivers, provide monitoring for individuals with dementia (real-time monitoring, notifications, etc.). |
In addition, Kawasaki Heavy Industries has established a new Social Innovation Co-creation Center, "CO-CREATION PARK - KAWARUBA," in "HANEDA INNOVATION CITY" (Ota-ku, Tokyo) in November 2024. This hub aims to create value by bringing together diverse individuals with a shared purpose to tackle various social issues, achieve social implementation, and is based on the concept of people meeting and gathering. We will also be working on the development of social robots for the care field, addressing the challenges of the care field through business-oriented solution development, while collaborating with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.
[Reference Link]
- CO-CREATION PARK - KAWARUBA Official Website of the Social Innovation Co-creation Center.
