Granny’s robot helper lets Lea live independent life

At the age of 94, great-granny Lea has found her perfect little helper — Robot Robin.

The sprightly Italian lady lives alone in her apartment in Rome and wants to remain there as long as possible.

Her daughter is also a grandmother and doesn’t have time or energy to look after her — but that is no problem thanks to a myriad hi-tech devices around her home.

Lea Mina Ralli has been testing out the new system called GiraffPlus for the past five months and is quite at home with her robot companion, which she calls Mr Robin.

As well as the robot, the system includes sensors around her apartment which detect activities such as cooking, sleeping, watching TV — and monitors her health including blood pressure and sugar levels.

They communicate with professional carers allowing her wellbeing to be checked remotely and alert them to any significant issues such as the person falling or doors left unlocked.

The robot also acts as a surrogate visitor with its monitor acting as a camera, showing the face of the person checking in virtually, and allowing them to move around the house with Granny Lea.

“My children live far away, my daughter is a grandmother herself and I feel safer now that this robot lives with me.

“With ‘Mr Robin’ I’m more relaxed about the years ahead, and so are my children and grandchildren”, said Lea, also known as ‘nonna’, the Italian for granny.

A professional writer for many years, she has been keeping everyone up-to-date with her experiences in her blog.

This also helps the researchers in GiraffPlus at Orebo University in Sweden to refine the devices developed with a €3m grant from the EU’s research fund.

The system has been tried out by older people in six homes in Europe — two each in Spain, Sweden and Italy — and will now be extended to nine others in a number of other countries in the coming months.

Stephen Von Rump of Giraff Technologies says they find that the system needs to be adapted to the different nationalities and the user’s specific needs.

They plan to put it into commercial production next year when they hope it will be taken up by older people who want to retain their independence living alone at home. They expect a good take-up as the cost will be met by an upfront fee and monthly subscriptions.

Neelie Kroes, the European commissioner responsible for the digital agenda said, “None of us is getting any younger. But we all want to know that we will not lose our dignity, respect and independence as we age. The EU is investing in new technology that can support the silver generation — adding not just years to our life, but also life to our years.”

The EU market for robots and devices to help older people is estimated to reach €13bn by 2016.