Japanese bed-ridden robotic lifter

by Katie Fehrenbacher, posted Oct 8th 2004 at 6:57AM

We'll admit we're more than a little jealous that Japan's rapidly-aging population will son have a robot for every occasion. OK, so we maybe should count it as a blessing that we don't require a robotic bathtime, though the human washing machine pictured here looks like the ultimate fullbody spa. And we guess we should be especially stoked that we don't require this new robotic lifter for the bedridden that Secom will be selling in April. The user can control the lifting robot with a remote and the device can move and place the user wherever s/he needs. Sensors make sure that the user is securely positioned on the lifter and stops moving if senses his/her unsafe placement.