Question:
Could this mobile robot really help caregivers of people withAlzheimers? It almost sounds too good to be true. This robot, calleda CareBot, has verbal interaction built in and can answer the samequestions over and over again. The website(http://www.geckosystems.com) says that the CareBot can act as a"surrogate short-term memory" with verbal reminders along withanswering questions. It also has remote viewing capabilities from theinternet. It self-navigates and follows a person automatically. Hasanyone heard anything about this CareBot? What do you think about it?

Answer: When my mother in law imagined she had a baby and that people were keepingit from her, she couldn't be fooled by a doll.

She couldn't relate to any mechanical things anymore, not even turning theTV on and off or adjusting the volume or changing the channel.

Nothing will ever be able to replace a real thinking human being in therealm of caregiving.

I have to say that I agree in the strongest possible ways with themajority of the responses to this idea. It's so totally counter-intuitiveit's unbelievable. Well-intentioned, I'd guess -- to take the charitableview -- but it surely cannot be a product of the imagination of anyone whohas ever dealt with dementia on a personal level for any meaningful amountof time