Breaking up seems to be the thing this month. Now Johnson & Johnson is spinning off its consumer brands into a separately traded public company, retaining the pharmaceutical and medical device businesses. The consumer business includes such J&J global signature products such as Band-Aids, Neutrogena, Q-tips, Baby Powder and Shampoo, and the Listerine line of products. It’s expected to take 18 to 24 months. The pharma/med device business will retain the J&J brands, sub-brands like Janssen, and development in AI and robotics. The consumer products divisions will have to hunt around for a new one. Outgoing CEO Alex Gorsky must... Continue Reading
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2021 UK-RAS Network Robotics Summer Showcase 5 May-30 July and UK Festival of Robotics 19-25 June
...use in the event of an accident. The Showcase closes in July with virtual award ceremonies for the prestigious international Surgical Robot Challenge and Medical Robotics for Contagious Diseases Challenge, the much-anticipated launch of the UK-RAS Network 2021 White Papers, and concludes with the Robotics Summer Showcase Closing Ceremony (30th July, 4–5pm BST; keynote speakers to be announced). UK Festival of Robotics, 19-25 June (formerly Robotics Week) The full week festival is still under development. More information will be on the main page here. Follow on Twitter at @UKRobotics. Hat tip to Nicky of EvokedSet Ltd. for the heads up... Continue Reading
Short Takes 20 Nov: Doro Eliza social alarm in UK, R2G diabetes market study, KOMPAÏ Robotics update, Bluestream Health integrates LanguageLine translation, and Optum’s 18
...segmentation, and competition. For instance, from 2019 to 2024, the number of diagnosed diabetics with access to smart devices is set to increase from 109 million to 180 million. It includes profiles of 10 countries. Priced from €3,290, so it will set you back a bit. More information here. We missed updating you on KOMPAÏ Robotics, which Editor Emeritus Steve Hards first covered in 2011. Their latest developments were earlier this year as their assistance/companion robot finally debuted for sale–right in the middle of the pandemic. This Pulse article recounts the road for CEO Vincent Dupourqué from 1975 to the... Continue Reading
News roundup: Kompaï debuts, Aging Tech 2020 study, Project Nightingale may sing to the Senate, Amwell, b.well, Lyft’s SDOH, more on telehealth for COVID-19
...in action on what looks like a tour. Press release (French/English) Not much on robotics here. Laurie Orlov has issued her 2020 Market Overview Technology for Aging Market Overview on her Aging and Health Technology Watch, and everyone in the industry should download. Key points: In 2020, aging technologies finally nudged into the mainstream The older adult tech market has been recognized as an opportunity by such companies as Best Buy, Samsung, and Amazon. Medicare Advantage payers now cover some tech. Advances plus smart marketing in hearing tech–one of the top needs in even younger demographics–is disrupting a formerly staid... Continue Reading
Technology will help ease, but not replace, rising workforce demand in long-term care: UCSF study
...bit of an exaggeration, but the pool of interest is shallow nonetheless The overall conclusion struck this Editor as less than enthusiastic, perhaps because We’re Not There Yet and it’s still so far away. The appendix lists the 13 companies surveyed with summaries of each health tech company interviewed: Alma’s House (Sweden), Arena (staffing/recruitment), Canary Health (education/caregiver education), CarePredict (wearables/alert monitoring), Clear Care (management). Embodied Labs (education), Intuition Robotics (ElliQ), GrandCare (monitoring/client engagement), Honor (staffing), La Valeriane (documentation), LifePod (voicetech/monitoring), UnaliWear (wearables/monitoring), VisibleHand (documentation/EHR). The study was supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the US Department... Continue Reading
Robots’ largely positive, somewhat equivocal role in therapy for children with autism and cerebral palsy (HIMSS)
A Georgia Tech study presented at this week’s HIMSS19 conference presented findings of an eight-week study of children with specific neurological conditions who were assisted by robotics in specific therapies for movement and cognition. The study began with the simple attraction of children to robots. Robots also don’t have the negative connotations of therapists, and in fact, based on the studies cited, robots are more trusted than humans by both adults and children. For a child, robots ‘repetitive and predictable interactions’ can be reassuring (like Pepper in a Belgium hospital two years ago) , along with ‘gamified’ therapies and child-robot... Continue Reading
It’s Official: CES is now a health tech event (updated)
...exhibitors and a 15 percent increase in the amount of floor space dedicated to health tech. One winner was a big gamble by a small company–Living in Digital Times, which organizes and stages the Digital Health Summit. Ten years later, it turned out to be right place, right time for the founders who work hard to keep it on trend. Lifestyle, robotics, self-care, assistive tech (even exoskeletons), wearables, cosmetic “wellness” devices like P&G’s Opté, and Alexa-type home assistants/robots all now fit into the CES purview. Trial balloons by young companies, AI-powered concept devices from big companies, watches (including the Apple-beater... Continue Reading
Kompaï robotics gets FABULOS in EU Horizon 2020 automated minibus competition
France’s Kompaï robotics, which Editor Steve first profiled in May 2011 (!), is still developing assistive robots for older adults, the disabled, and their caregivers. In another instance of technology integration and crossover into an area other than healthcare, they are a finalist in one of 5 consortia of 16 companies competing in the European FABULOS challenge to develop an automated minibus. Kompaï is partnering with Actia Automobile as the Kompai-Actia Consortium. Phase 1 of FABULOS starts 1 January with a feasibility study with conclusions for the start of prototype development. In autumn, the consortia will move to lab testing... Continue Reading
A critical take on Pepper’s Parliament Question Time (UK)
...that similar things have been said when the first telephone, car, plane or http were shown: Why do we need this? It does not make any sense, etc. etc. So, don't judge too negatively too quickly!! We have been exploring the development of social robotics from 2008 up to now, including Kompai (but the the company Robosoft went bankrupt), Nao from Aldebaran, taken over by Softbankrobotics (producer of Pepper), PAL robotics, etc. All these robotics have shown a lot of value in our understanding what older persons would do with or react on such machines. And indeed from various studies... Continue Reading
Pepper pays a first-ever robot visit to Commons on the future of AI and robotics on education, older adult care (UK)
...I am a resident robot at Middlesex University.” Pepper used voice, gesture, and his embedded front tablet to explain about the role robots like him will play in education and healthcare. At Middlesex, final year students in robotics, education, psychology, and biomedicine like Joana Miranda, one of his two escorts, work with Pepper on projects such as developing numeracy skills in primary school students. According to BBC News, Tory MP Lucy Allan dryly noted that Pepper was “better than some of the ministers we have had before us”. In healthcare for older adults, the Pepper robot developed by Softbank is... Continue Reading
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