(May 22, 2015) Elderly
people with walking difficulties are often intimidated by busy public places.
This led an EU research project to develop a robot walker to guide them around
shopping centres, museums and other public buildings, thus enhancing their
autonomy.
Shopping centres, airports, museums and hospitals are the
kind of complex and confusing environments where elderly people on the verge of
cognitive decline could have difficulties walking around without help. The
walking frames they may currently use do not have the flexibility to help them
navigate in often-crowded places.
This led researchers on the DALI project to develop a
robotic cognitive walker (c-Walker) that can be taken to, or picked up at, the
place to be visited, gently guiding the person around the building safely. The
device takes corrective actions when the user comes across the type of busy
area, obstacle or incident they want to avoid.