If you grow old in Japan, expect to be served by a feeding robot, ride a voice-recognition wheelchair and hire a nurse in a robotic suit — all examples of cutting-edge technology to care for the country's rapidly graying population.
With nearly 22 percent of Japan's population already aged 65 or older, businesses here have been rolling out everything from easy-entry cars to remote-controlled beds, fueling a care technology market worth some ¥126 billion in 2006, according to industry figures.
At a home-care and rehabilitation convention in Tokyo this week, buyers crowded round a demonstration of Secom Co.'s My Spoon feeding robot, which helps elderly or disabled people eat with a spoon- and fork-fitted swiveling arm.