scholarly journals Special Issue on Nursing Robots and Support Systems for Welfare Sites

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 711-712
Author(s):  
Shoichiro Fujisawa ◽  
Masahiro Takaiwa ◽  
Yasuhisa Hirata ◽  
Shinya Kotosaka ◽  
Daisuke Chugo
Keyword(s):  
Support Systems ◽  
Vital Signs ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Assistive Technologies ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Mobility Support ◽  
People With Dementia ◽  
Human Labor ◽  
Physically Handicapped

Japan’s population is aging at a speed unprecedented in the world, and its shortage of caregivers has become a major issue. At the same time, the Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to create unprecedented new value by connecting all people and things, allowing them to share various kinds of knowledge and information. In addition, as artificial intelligence (AI) and big data are undergoing a transformation that is changing the value of human labor, robots incorporating these innovative technologies are expected to solve the problems of the aging society. On the other hand, in the field of nursing care, the relationship between the caregiver and the care-receiver is basically a person-to-person connection. There is a question of how people and technology can coexist and produce new creations in such fields. This special issue on Nursing Robots and Support Systems for Welfare Sites includes one review paper and 23 other interesting papers that cover the following topics: ı Research on independence support and systems to watch over the elderly. ı Research on support systems for diet, recreation, medication, etc. for people with dementia. ı Research on control and sensor systems for vital signs and excretion. ı Research on rehabilitation equipment for the physically handicapped. ı Research on assistive technologies for mobility support. ı Research on upper and lower limb power assistance devices and robots. We thank all authors and reviewers of the papers as well as the Editorial Board of the Journal of Robotics and Mechatronics for their help with this special issue.

Special Issue on Assistive Technology Based on ICT/IRT for Aged Society

2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 887-887
Author(s):  
Takayuki Tanaka ◽  
Yasuhisa Hasegawa ◽  
Takanori Miyoshi ◽  
Shunji Shimizu ◽  
Toru Ifukube
Keyword(s):  
Communication Technology ◽  
Assistive Technologies ◽  
Assistive Device ◽  
Worth Living ◽  
Elderly Persons ◽  
Information Communication ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Kinesthetic Feedback ◽  
Aged Society

Although Japan and many other countries are going to the super-aging society quickly prior to the world, according to the latest investigations, there are a lot of elderly persons who do not suffer instrumental activity of daily living (IADL). This special issue made a broad call for papers on research and development of assistive technologies to support and enhance their employment and daily-life activity based on information-communication technology (ICT) and information-robotics technology (IRT). The topics of the special issue include wearable assistive device, power/skill assist, mobility assist, locomotive assist, communication assist, kinesthetic feedback assist, sensor/actuator technologies for assistive system, robotics and mechatronics to support elderly persons. We finally believe that these assistive technologies greatly contribute to support many elderly persons and make their lives more worth living. We thank the authors for their fine contributions and the reviewers for their generous time and effort. In closing, we thank the Editorial Board of the Journal of Robotics and Mechatronics for helping make this issue possible.

Special Issue on Robotics for Gerontechnology

2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 603-603
Author(s):  
Yasuhisa Hasegawa ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Later Life ◽  
Human Motion ◽  
Cost Of Care ◽  
Living Environment ◽  
Assistive Technologies ◽  
Assistive Robotics ◽  
Information Support ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Aging Society ◽  
People With Dementia

Gerontechnology, an interdisciplinary field combining gerontology and technology, deals with the QoL (Quality of Life) and technological environments in an aging society. This new technology is closely related to assistive technology for compensation, assistance, and care support and to universal design ensuring that products provide a comfortable and safe living environment for people of the widely ranging age. Assistive robotics also contributes to independent living and social participation by people of all ages and all capabilities based on physical and information support. Robots provide solutions that reduce the cost of care in later life and that sustain an aging society by extending the working age in society, consequently. This special issue focuses on robotics contributing to gerontechnology, presenting 14 papers and one note on the latest achievements in this exiting research area. Five papers propose assistive technologies for human motion. One presents a home robot system for setting and clearing the table. Four propose monitoring of activities of daily living (ADL). Two introduce caring systems for people with dementia based on robot therapy and a cooperative game. Two present requisite technologies for gerontechnology, i.e., motion analysis for motion synthesis, and aging effect of hand pointing action. The final article introduces reminiscence therapy using photographs and a PC for people with dementia. I thank the authors for their invaluable contributions and the reviewers for their time and effort in making this special issue possible. I also thank the JRM Editorial Board for the opportunity to take part in this work.

Special Issue on Assistive Device Technologies

2002 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 523-523
Author(s):  
Osamu Fukuda ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Body ◽  
Healthy Lifestyle ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Assistive Technologies ◽  
Assistive Device ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Human Interface ◽  
Aging Society ◽  
And Training

Technologies for supporting a healthy lifestyle for the elderly and disabled are needed to keep them mentally and physically independent and to help them take part in society. The issue of a rapidly aging society has, in fact, become a major national problem. This special issue focuses on assistive device technologies for the elderly and disabled. Contributed and invited papers have been carefully reviewed by journal referees and 13 papers selected for publication in the Journal of Robotics and Mechatronics Special Issue on Human Assistive Technologies (Vol. 14, No. 6). The first 4 papers, by Hashino, Yamada et al., Miyawaki et al., and Noritsugu et al., outline the development of new mobile equipment based on novel mobile mechanisms. The next 4 articles, authored by Wenwei et al., Ohga et al., Kato et al., and Hagihara et al., deal with prostheses and orthoses. In 2 more papers, by Homma et al. and Shinomiya et al., the focus is on rehabilitation and training equipment, while in the 11th article, Kanamori et al. report on the operating ""feel"" of a man-machine system to improve the maneuverability of the human interface. The last 2 papers, authored by Kobayashi et al. and Fukuda et al., detail an automatic diagnosis system based on biomedical information measured from the human body. We thank the authors who have so kindly contributed their papers to this special issue, and the reviewers who have made this publication possible. Our special thanks go to Editor-in-Chief Prof. Makoto Kaneko of Hiroshima University, who provided the opportunity for editing this issue. We expect this issue to help readers to better understand new trends in assistive device technologies and to further their interest in this most robust and innovative research field.

Portable Life Support System: Current Status and Future Perspectives

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-28
Author(s):  
Jingang Jiang ◽  
Yihao Chen ◽  
Xuefeng Ma ◽  
Yongde Zhang ◽  
Zhiyuan Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Support System ◽  
Life Support ◽  
Support Systems ◽  
Vital Signs ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Life Support System ◽  
Life Support Systems ◽  
Special Circumstances ◽  
And Control ◽  
Further Development

Background: Portable life support system is used in the battlefield, disaster and in other special circumstances such as in space exploration, and underground survey to give the wounded a life support. The most dangerous period for the injured is the first hour after an injury, which is a crucial time for treatment. If the patient's vital signs were stabilized, more than 40% of the injured could be saved. The staff can efficiently complete the task if they get effective and stable vital signs during the operation. Therefore, in order to reduce the risk of disaster and battlefield mortality to improve operational safety and efficiency, it is necessary to study the portable life support system. Objective: The study aimed to provide an overview of recent portable life support system and its characteristics and design. Methods: This paper introduces the patents and products related to a portable life support system, and its characteristics and application. Results: This paper summarizes five kinds of portable life support systems which are box type, stretcher type, bed type, backpack type and mobile type. Moreover, the characteristics of different portable life support systems are analyzed. The paper expounds the problems of different types of portable life support systems and puts forward improvement methods to solve the problems. Finally, the paper points out the future development of the system. Conclusion: Portable life support system plays an increasingly important role in health care. In terms of the structure, function and control, further development and improvements are needed, along with the research on portable life support system.

Involving people with dementia and their informal caregivers in the development process of assistive technology: Description and evaluation of a user-centered design (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iris A.G.M. Geerts ◽  
Liselore J.A.E Snaphaan ◽  
Inge M.B. Bongers
Keyword(s):  
Focus Groups ◽  
Assistive Technology ◽  
Field Study ◽  
Development Process ◽  
Technology Development ◽  
Informal Caregivers ◽  
Assistive Technologies ◽  
User Centered Design ◽  
People With Dementia ◽  
User Centered

BACKGROUND Despite the potential value of assistive technology to support people with dementia (PWD) in everyday activities, use of these technologies is still limited. To ensure that assistive technologies better address the specific needs and daily context of PWD and their informal caregivers, it is particularly important to involve them in all different phases of assistive technology development. The literature rarely describes the involvement of PWD throughout the development process of assistive technologies, which makes it difficult to further reflect on and improve active involvement of PWD. OBJECTIVE This two-part study aimed to gather insights on the user-centered design (UCD) applied in the development process of the alpha prototype of the serious game PLAYTIME by describing the methods and procedures of the UCD as well as evaluating the UCD from the perspective of all involved stakeholders. METHODS The first three phases of the user-driven Living Lab of Innovate Dementia 2.0 were applied to directly involve PWD and their informal caregivers through qualitative research methods, including focus groups and a context-field study, in the development of the alpha prototype of PLAYTIME from exploration to design to testing. After the testing phase, a total number of 18 semi-structured interviews were conducted with PWD, their informal caregivers and the project members of PLAYTIME to evaluate the applied UCD from the perspective of all involved stakeholders. The interviews addressed five of the principles for successful UCD and the appropriateness of the different methods used in the focus groups and context-field study. RESULTS Results of the interviews focused, amongst others, on the level of involvement of PWD and their informal caregivers in the development process, the input provided by PWD and their informal caregivers, the value of early prototyping, continuous iterations of design solutions and in-context testing, the role of dementia care professionals in the multidisciplinary project team, and the appropriateness of open- and closed-ended questions for obtaining input from PWD and their informal caregivers. CONCLUSIONS The description and evaluation of the UCD applied in the development process of the alpha prototype of PLAYTIME resulted in several insights on the relevance of UCD for all involved stakeholders as well as how PWD can be involved in the subsequent phases of usable and meaningful assistive technology development.

scholarly journals ALL IS NOT SEXUALITY THAT LOOKS LIKE IT

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 239-247
Author(s):  
DAGMAR HERZOG
Keyword(s):  
Sigmund Freud ◽  
Jacques Lacan ◽  
Vital Signs ◽  
Turn Of The Millennium ◽  
Master Narrative ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Rescue Operation ◽  
French Studies ◽  
Textual Interpretation

I am grateful for the observations of these five wonderful and thought-provoking interlocutors: Camille Robcis, Todd Shepard, Suzanne Stewart-Steinberg, Regina Kunzel, and Michal Shapira. They have prompted me to read a whole range of clarifying texts—from Jacques Derrida's reflections on Friedrich Nietzsche to the work of classicist James Davidson on Michel Foucault and George Devereux (as well as more writings by Devereux) to historian Chris Waters's recovery of Edward Glover, and from literary scholar Shoshana Felman's brilliant Jacques Lacan-inspired rescue operation for psychoanalytic textual interpretation (in the special issue of Yale French Studies she edited in 1977) to Charles Shepherdson's turn-of-the-millennium revisionist take on Lacan and Foucault in Vital Signs. They have prompted me, too, to reconsider key texts by Sigmund Freud. And I am glad that the interlocutors challenge me with questions. These include: why the Left abandoned psychoanalysis (Robcis); how I have come to think about practices and desires and the relationships between “the sexual” and other realms of human existence (Shepard and Stewart-Steinberg, each in their own way); how a more integrated and comprehensive master narrative of psychoanalysis might be written, connecting the first and second halves of the twentieth century (Shapira); and how to delve more deeply into the role of analysands in shaping what counts as psychoanalysis (Kunzel).

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