Time to reimagine healthcare.
Dave is a 45-year-old software engineer who suffers from type 2 diabetes. To manage the condition, his doctor has advised him to exercise vigorously at least 20 minutes, twice a week. For a techie who doesn’t like exercise, that’s easier said than done. Dave has heard of a novel type of robot-assisted gamified personal training—which sounds like fun. Using his smartphone, he scans a QR code and the door to a robotic training room slides open. As he steps into the room, a germfree robotic personal trainer welcomes him: “Hello Dave, nice to meet you again! Ready for your digital training session?”
Due to a newly established physical distancing rule, Dave’s doctor cannot meet him in person. From his office, however, based on the suggestions of an AI-powered recommendation engine, the doctor has compiled a personalized program of gamified exercises. The training and tests that Dave will perform today will be optimized on the fly by the AI of the robotic personal trainer. All activities will be recorded, converted in real-time to an encrypted data stream and uploaded to the cloud. There, a collection of computers will sift through the data, spot anomalous patterns—if any—and generate easy-to-interpret reports to support Dave’s doctor decision making.
In the post-pandemic age, when meeting people physically will be harder, this kind of flexible robot-mediated interactions will be part of a new normal. By employing smart robots, health professionals will be able to assist anyone, anytime and anywhere—safely, efficiently and, because time and money matter, more cost-effectively.
Classic types versus new breeds.
“Healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can have,” said former UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Without healthy and productive citizens, a country cannot be economically successful or socially stable. Not surprisingly, every country is concerned about healthcare costs spiraling out of control. Even more so during the pandemic.
As industrialization did in the 19th and 20th century for many aspects of human life, exponential technologies such as robotics and artificial intelligence have the potential to supercharge healthcare delivery in the 21st century. The advantages of robots vastly outweigh their risks. For starters, robots do not cough, sneeze, or actively spread pathogens. They cannot get sick and do not demand higher wages. Moreover, they are ideal for dangerous jobs and for tedious menial work, such as collecting data. In healthcare, robots are already being used in a variety of ways: from testing for COVID-19 to dispensing drugs, from disinfecting hospitals to bringing in supplies of PPE, medicines, and food. Robots work tirelessly, day in day out, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
These classic types of robots are well known for their ability to perform dull, dirty, and dangerous jobs. A new breed of robots can also help with tasks that do not fall in these categories. As illustrated above such robots can provide novel and effective ways to accelerate the world’s transition to accessible, personalized, affordable, and socially responsible healthcare.
Robot-mediated tele-training.
For our Paleolithic ancestors, hunting, growing food, acquiring water, building shelter, and making tools were essential for survival. These activities required a strong and resilient physique, quick reflexes, and stamina. Although our genetic profile has remained largely unchanged since then, modern life is characterized by a much lower level of physical activity. The resulting loss of muscular strength and cognitive fitness is one of the largest risk factors for many non-communicable, degenerative, and chronic diseases, which has far-reaching socio-economic consequences.
Enter the robotic personal trainers. Through a personalized user experience, these self-adapting robots, equipped with thousands of training routines, can motivate anyone to participate in programs of high-intensity interval training designed to build and maintain cognitive and physical abilities such strength, power and endurance. The task-oriented and gamified training units trigger the brain’s intrinsic pleasure and reward mechanisms, guaranteeing a post-workout boost of dopamine. This empowers people to develop habits with a long-lasting positive impact on their physical and mental health and their lifestyles.
Since robotic personal trainers can operate semi-autonomously or in remote collaboration with a trainer, healthcare professional or another robot in the network, robot-enabled tele-training has the potential to drastically lower the cost of healthcare while increasing its quality. It also allows healthcare providers to shift treatment away from expensive hospital locations and to expand access to care to underserved communities. Last but not least, during times of extreme strain on the healthcare system, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic, robots can significantly reduce the risk of infectious disease transmission to healthcare personnel by enabling the training and testing of people from a safe distance.
Challenges and opportunities.
Some challenges remain. Two often cited concerns are the collection of personal data and the intrinsic cybersecurity-risk of networked tele-operated machines. These challenges can be managed by the principles of data minimization and purpose limitation. Robotic personal trainers are built to collect and share as little personal data as necessary, and a large part of the computation occurs at the edge of the network. This data is used for highly specific, non-essential purposes only. In other words, a data breach would be irrelevant and inconsequential.
Another challenge is the fear that robots may take over human jobs or, worse, evolve into super intelligence that will enslave mankind. This popular narrative is far from reality. Robots are mere tools that complement and extend our capabilities, amplify our senses, stimulate our creativity, while helping us free up time and boost our collective power. They can empower humans rather than replace them. In the specific case of healthcare, the collaboration between humans and smart machines has the potential to create shared socio-economic value by making its delivery more democratic, fair, and cost-effective.
What are we waiting for?
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Supercharging Healthcare in the Post-Pandemic Age
Image courtesy of ddrobotec by Dynamic Devices.
November 6, 2020
Time to reimagine healthcare.
Dave is a 45-year-old software engineer who suffers from type 2 diabetes. To manage the condition, his doctor has advised him to exercise vigorously at least 20 minutes, twice a week. For a techie who doesn’t like exercise, that’s easier said than done. Dave has heard of a novel type of robot-assisted gamified personal training—which sounds like fun. Using his smartphone, he scans a QR code and the door to a robotic training room slides open. As he steps into the room, a germfree robotic personal trainer welcomes him: “Hello Dave, nice to meet you again! Ready for your digital training session?”
Due to a newly established physical distancing rule, Dave’s doctor cannot meet him in person. From his office, however, based on the suggestions of an AI-powered recommendation engine, the doctor has compiled a personalized program of gamified exercises. The training and tests that Dave will perform today will be optimized on the fly by the AI of the robotic personal trainer. All activities will be recorded, converted in real-time to an encrypted data stream and uploaded to the cloud. There, a collection of computers will sift through the data, spot anomalous patterns—if any—and generate easy-to-interpret reports to support Dave’s doctor decision making.
In the post-pandemic age, when meeting people physically will be harder, this kind of flexible robot-mediated interactions will be part of a new normal. By employing smart robots, health professionals will be able to assist anyone, anytime and anywhere—safely, efficiently and, because time and money matter, more cost-effectively.
Classic types versus new breeds.
“Healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can have,” said former UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Without healthy and productive citizens, a country cannot be economically successful or socially stable. Not surprisingly, every country is concerned about healthcare costs spiraling out of control. Even more so during the pandemic.
As industrialization did in the 19th and 20th century for many aspects of human life, exponential technologies such as robotics and artificial intelligence have the potential to supercharge healthcare delivery in the 21st century. The advantages of robots vastly outweigh their risks. For starters, robots do not cough, sneeze, or actively spread pathogens. They cannot get sick and do not demand higher wages. Moreover, they are ideal for dangerous jobs and for tedious menial work, such as collecting data. In healthcare, robots are already being used in a variety of ways: from testing for COVID-19 to dispensing drugs, from disinfecting hospitals to bringing in supplies of PPE, medicines, and food. Robots work tirelessly, day in day out, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
These classic types of robots are well known for their ability to perform dull, dirty, and dangerous jobs. A new breed of robots can also help with tasks that do not fall in these categories. As illustrated above such robots can provide novel and effective ways to accelerate the world’s transition to accessible, personalized, affordable, and socially responsible healthcare.
Robot-mediated tele-training.
For our Paleolithic ancestors, hunting, growing food, acquiring water, building shelter, and making tools were essential for survival. These activities required a strong and resilient physique, quick reflexes, and stamina. Although our genetic profile has remained largely unchanged since then, modern life is characterized by a much lower level of physical activity. The resulting loss of muscular strength and cognitive fitness is one of the largest risk factors for many non-communicable, degenerative, and chronic diseases, which has far-reaching socio-economic consequences.
Enter the robotic personal trainers. Through a personalized user experience, these self-adapting robots, equipped with thousands of training routines, can motivate anyone to participate in programs of high-intensity interval training designed to build and maintain cognitive and physical abilities such strength, power and endurance. The task-oriented and gamified training units trigger the brain’s intrinsic pleasure and reward mechanisms, guaranteeing a post-workout boost of dopamine. This empowers people to develop habits with a long-lasting positive impact on their physical and mental health and their lifestyles.
Since robotic personal trainers can operate semi-autonomously or in remote collaboration with a trainer, healthcare professional or another robot in the network, robot-enabled tele-training has the potential to drastically lower the cost of healthcare while increasing its quality. It also allows healthcare providers to shift treatment away from expensive hospital locations and to expand access to care to underserved communities. Last but not least, during times of extreme strain on the healthcare system, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic, robots can significantly reduce the risk of infectious disease transmission to healthcare personnel by enabling the training and testing of people from a safe distance.
Challenges and opportunities.
Some challenges remain. Two often cited concerns are the collection of personal data and the intrinsic cybersecurity-risk of networked tele-operated machines. These challenges can be managed by the principles of data minimization and purpose limitation. Robotic personal trainers are built to collect and share as little personal data as necessary, and a large part of the computation occurs at the edge of the network. This data is used for highly specific, non-essential purposes only. In other words, a data breach would be irrelevant and inconsequential.
Another challenge is the fear that robots may take over human jobs or, worse, evolve into super intelligence that will enslave mankind. This popular narrative is far from reality. Robots are mere tools that complement and extend our capabilities, amplify our senses, stimulate our creativity, while helping us free up time and boost our collective power. They can empower humans rather than replace them. In the specific case of healthcare, the collaboration between humans and smart machines has the potential to create shared socio-economic value by making its delivery more democratic, fair, and cost-effective.
What are we waiting for?
