It has been two years since the robotics lab of the University of Minnesota Duluth has begun utilizing their robots to help patients with dementia. The goal of the project was to bring these robots into nursing homes to provide care for those with dementia, as well as relief for the human caregivers of the facility. These robots have proved to be a success, and have excelled in helping, as well as caring for these patients.

The robots currently being used in nursing homes are called Pepper. These small robots are capable of multiple kinds of care, including physically helping the patients, performing therapy and strengthening the patients’ cognition. With Pepper being in use for over two years, a lot of progress has been made, and a lot of information has been learned since the start of the project.

In October of 2021, The Bark interviewed Dr. Arshia Khan about her progress and plans with Pepper before they made their way into nursing homes. Since that article, the UMD robotics lab has been hard at work improving the robots and learning more and more about how they can be used to help with dementia and potentially other disabilities as well. 

Along with taking care of patients, Pepper has also been in use to make sure that caregivers are not spreading themselves too thin. With the help of these robots, caregivers have been able to help these patients in ways they were not able to previously. Pepper continues to make great improvements in caring for patients with dementia, but there is still progress to be made.

On Monday, Feb. 11,  The Bark was able to interview one of the members of the UMD robotics lab about Pepper, what kind of progress has been made and what the future looks like for these robots in healthcare. Matthew Sawchuk has been one of the main people working on this project along with Dr. Arshia Khan. Sawchuck has been critical in making sure these robots are as optimal as possible for taking care of patients.

During the interview, Sawchuck was able to share a lot of information about Pepper and the project as a whole.

Q: So what do you do with these robots? And what has the lab done to help dementia patients?

A: Our lab functions to bring robots into healthcare. More specifically, we’re trying to bring our Pepper robots to people with dementia. The cost of dementia is very high. Back in 2019, it used to be one point three trillion dollars globally. By twenty thirty it’s supposed to reach two point eight trillion. Which is a crazy high number, and more than fifty percent of that cost is on the familial caregivers. That’s not even on specific nursing homes, and we want to try to levy that cost by bringing robots. Robots are effective for providing or easing off the stress from caregivers. We deploy Pepper into various nursing homes and perform something called cognitive stimulation therapy to try to improve people’s cognition over time.

Q: Do you use these robots more as assistants to caregivers, or more as a replacement?

A: Assistants, our robots aren’t quite as advanced where they can be used purely as replacements, but they are the most effective and they are used as assistants.

Q: What have you used to develop these robots? What kind of programs have you used?

A: Well with Pepper we can use Python, we also use ReactJS. Standard library, although a little bit outdated or these robots were made decades or so ago. But we are transitioning into building new robots to help better our tasks.

Q: What are the plans with these new robots?

A: Our new robot is hopefully going to replace what we currently do with Pepper, which is using new technology. I mean, if you compare AI from 2012 to AI nowadays, you almost hear nobody talking about AI then, but now it’s the crazy thing. So we’re hoping to utilize all the new innovative technology for our new robots.

Q: What do you think the future looks like with these robots in healthcare working with people with dementia?

A: Well, I can actually see this going beyond just dementia care. Helping out nursing homes, or people with different cognitive disabilities, or mental illnesses, trying to help improve the lives of everybody with low cost, affordable living, and optimal treatment. Which is neat because we wanted to improve both people with dementia, and other illnesses as well as giving caregivers an improvement.

Q: What have you learned so far from using these robots?

A: Well, these robots are amazing. They can do so much that we can’t do, and they don’t even have to take a night's rest. Maybe just a two-hour charge.

Q: So you would say these have been a great success?

A: Yes, entirely great success.

Along with the interview, I was also able to look at Matthew’s display explaining the goal of the project, how it is done, the current work they have made with the project, and some of the limitations. I was also shown some of the Pepper robots that the robotics lab is currently using. While they were depowered, I was able to see some parts of how they worked, and what the lab is improving on.

With multiple years of success, experience, and progress behind them, the robotics lab at the University of Minnesota Duluth is dedicated to making sure these robots can be as effective and helpful as possible. With advancements in technology and AI, the future for Pepper looks bright. More nursing homes and patients will soon have access to Pepper and the unique and helpful care that it provides.