{"id":43343,"date":"2025-03-04T13:12:51","date_gmt":"2025-03-04T12:12:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/?p=43343"},"modified":"2026-01-22T13:48:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T12:48:11","slug":"airec-the-ai-powered-robot-that-improves-care-for-the-elderly-in-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/airec-the-ai-powered-robot-that-improves-care-for-the-elderly-in-japan\/","title":{"rendered":"AIREC, the AI-powered robot that improves care for the elderly in Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Faced with an unprecedented demographic crisis, Japan is betting heavily on robotics to revolutionize care for the elderly. AIREC, a humanoid robot designed to assist caregivers, recently proved its worth in Tokyo by demonstrating its ability to safely manipulate a lying patient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/2-1024x576.png\" alt=\"airec, caregiver robot japan (generated by ai)\" class=\"wp-image-43345\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/2-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/2-400x225.png 400w, https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/2-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/2.png 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This type of innovation could play a vital role in a country where the population is ageing rapidly, outnumbering the young and active, who are therefore fewer and fewer in number to care for them on a daily basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">AIREC: a response to the shortage of nursing staff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Japan is facing an <strong>increasingly ageing population<\/strong>, coupled with a <strong>declining birth rate<\/strong>. In 2024, the country recorded just 720,988 births, down 5% on the previous year. At the same time, <strong>Japan&#8217;s baby-boom generation<\/strong> (1947-1949) passed the age of 75, increasing the demand for care. In December 2024, there was <strong>only one candidate for every 4.25 positions available<\/strong> in the care sector, making the situation more than critical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Aging Japan turns to AI robots to care for older people | REUTERS\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Ochuq--Agoc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is in this context that the<strong> AIREC robot <\/strong>has been designed to assist caregivers with complex tasks such as <strong>changing patients&#8217; position<\/strong>, <strong>preventing bedsores<\/strong>, helping with <strong>dressing<\/strong>, and even <strong>preparing simple meals<\/strong>. Its development is supervised by Professor Shigeki Sugano of Waseda University, with public funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Technological advances in the service of health<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Robotics and artificial intelligence<\/strong> have made significant progress in recent years, but designing a robot capable of interacting physically and safely with humans remains a major challenge. Unlike industrial robots, healthcare robots have to <strong>adapt to varied and unpredictable situations<\/strong>, requiring advanced <strong>intelligence<\/strong> and <strong>precision<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-embed wp-block-embed-embed\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"99yHSHdKsz\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/ageing-in-japan-a-record-budget-to-tackle-a-dual-crisis-demographic-and-geopolitical\/\">Ageing in Japan: A record budget to tackle a dual crisis &#8211; demographic and geopolitical<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;Ageing in Japan: A record budget to tackle a dual crisis &#8211; demographic and geopolitical&#8221; &#8212; \" src=\"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/ageing-in-japan-a-record-budget-to-tackle-a-dual-crisis-demographic-and-geopolitical\/embed\/#?secret=CGue1Y9IQG#?secret=99yHSHdKsz\" data-secret=\"99yHSHdKsz\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>AIREC is based on a deep neural network <\/strong>(DNN) that predicts joint movements and adjusts the force applied in real time. <strong>Care facilities<\/strong> such as those run by the Zenkoukai company are already testing various technological solutions, including <strong>sleep sensors <\/strong>under mattresses to reduce nightly rounds, or<strong> interactive robots<\/strong> to help residents exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">AIREC: a complementary solution for caregivers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Although robots like AIREC are a valuable aid,<strong> their cost remains considerably high<\/strong>. Its initial price is estimated at <strong>10 million yen<\/strong> (around 64,000 euros). According to Sugano, its actual integration into care facilities <strong>will not take place before 2030<\/strong>. What&#8217;s more, these robots are<strong> not yet capable of substituting for humans<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/robot-ia_409741570-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"robot collaborating with humans - airec illustration\" class=\"wp-image-43346\" style=\"width:568px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/robot-ia_409741570-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/robot-ia_409741570-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/robot-ia_409741570-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/robot-ia_409741570-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/robot-ia_409741570-2048x1367.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>If we have AI-equipped robots that can grasp each care receiver&#8217;s living conditions and personal traits, there may be a future for them to directly provide nursing care (&#8230;) But I don&#8217;t think robots can understand everything about nursing care. Robots and humans working together to improve nursing care is a future I am hoping for. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Takaki Ito, Zenkoukai caregiver<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Towards a future where robots and humans collaborate for aging well<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/china-turns-to-humanoid-robots-to-support-its-aging-population\/\">The deployment of humanoid robots<\/a><\/strong> in the care sector is not intended to replace human staff, but rather to<strong> ease the workload <\/strong>and improve the quality of care delivered. The stakes are high for Japan, the first country so affected by this <strong>demographic crisis<\/strong>, but potentially a model for other nations facing similar challenges (like <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/south-korea-faces-an-unprecedented-demographic-crisis\/\">South Korea<\/a><\/strong>, for example) in the decades to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>#AIREC, the #AI-powered #robot that improves #care for the #elderly in #Japan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":43345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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the #AI-powered #robot that improves #care for the #elderly in #Japan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43343"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43343\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43350,"href":"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43343\/revisions\/43350"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.silvereco.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}