Multimedia Operator Interface for a Health-Care Robot

An operator interface is undergoing development along with other subsystems of a robot that would assist in caring for elderly and disabled patients. This development has been initiated in anticipation of an increasing need for long-term care, in both home and hospital environments, with decreasing ratios of medical personnel to patients. Robots of the type envisioned would be controllable by both medical personnel and patients with some disabilities. Typically, the robots would be used to perform routine, mostly nonmedical tasks like delivering food and retrieving articles of clothing or other objects for patients.