The future of aging makes news -- the present is less visible
Groundhog Day --the future resurfaces regularly. The UK media have ‘discovered’ the granny pod, four years after a similar ‘granny cottage’ concept appeared, This is now three years after AARP discovered the granny pod/ aka MedCottage, which AARP described as a portable alternative to nursing homes. Ditto on companion robots (including the ever-popular Paro) from the same UK article. Seriously folks, companion robots are just around the corner, the future is just ahead. Says the Financial Times writer: “People are living longer and the result, according to the UN, is that there will be two billion people aged over 60 worldwide by 2050.” Let’s see, does a projection 37 years from now a market make? Even if you buy that being over 60 constitutes a candidate customer for a MedCottage or companion robot, it must be too just too hard to find that number of how many would benefit today. That’s because caregiving robots of today are still in the experimental stage (and have been for many years.)