The CHIRON project - can robotics resolve the care crisis?

SH&BA (Smart Homes & Buildings Association) is organising the CHIRON Project Conference on 12th April 2018.

Caring for our ageing population is already becoming a greater load on NHS and Social Care resources than the UK can pay for. As the demographic profile of our society moves inexorably into the future, the ability of the state and its resource, and the resources of the UK population, will be wholly insufficient to afford the majority of people in the UK a dignified old age.

This is not just a UK problem, as the number of people worldwide over 65 is expected to rise to more than 1.6 billion by 2050. We know there will not be enough carers to go around even if they could be paid for. The same applies to care homes and nursing homes. There is simply not enough money or people to staff them properly and the result is paralysing the NHS, blocking beds and causing premature and unfortunate deaths.

• Wouldn‚Äôt it be wonderful if we could use friendly, gentle robots in our homes that would help us and those that care for us when the caring burden becomes too great.
• Wouldn‚Äôt it be even better if our robots could take on the back breaking lifting that carers and nurses have to endure as people lose their mobility.
• Wouldn‚Äôt it be nice if the robot, when it wasn‚Äôt doing the heavy lifting, could do jobs around the home, fetch and carry and prepare meals, to allow carers to do their job of providing the human contact with their patients.
• Wouldn‚Äôt it be great if our robot could allow us to stay in the comfort of our own homes for most of the rest of our lives

During the past two years, the CHIRON Project funded by Innovate UK has spent £2 Million researching and developing a solution to this potential demographic disaster and this Conference is designed to set the scene, look at the options and show what we have achieved. Emerging from the project:

• We know we can build a robot that can safely help people get from sitting to standing and provide a stable support as they move around a room.
• We know we can command the robot verbally to come and help us stand and sit and also to fetch and carry stuff for us.
• We know we can use verbal control to tell the robot to do things.
• Indeed, we know that we can achieve all of the ‚Äòwish list‚Äô above with what we have learnt and developed in the CHIRON Project.

We also have a good estimate of what it will cost to bring to market, how much it will then save the care sector (and people themselves), and its net present value under a number of scenarios.

SH&BA is a partner in the CHIRON Project and together we would like to share our findings with you and invite you to attend this conference in London near Waterloo on the 12th April.

AGENDA

Registration and Coffee 09.30
There are 3 sessions (each session has 3 or more speakers):

10.00  Session 1        Requirements for future caring
Session Chair            Ms. Jobeda Ali РCEO of Three Sisters Care

11.30  Session 2        Technology innovation, why technology and caring are coming together
Session Chair            Rich Walker, CEO Shadow Robot Company

14.00 Session 3         Social Innovation РSocial connectiveness for technological awareness
Session Chair            Stephen Pattenden, Director, Smart Homes & Buildings Association

Close 16.30

After each session there will be questions and answers

Session 3 will include information on the Business Case for the CHIRON Product and detail of the Branding exercise the project as carried out which has settled on a new name for future work which is “JUVA – here to help”.

There will be adequate time for networking during the coffee and tea breaks and during lunch.

VENUE

Coin Street Neighbourhood Centre, Third Floor Suite, 108 Stamford St, London  SE1 9NH.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

For this conference, we invite everyone involved in care, from those working in care homes, to care charities, social care and social housing providers; everyone involved in robotic technology and AI and from Government to come and hear our project findings and join us in identifying how to take the project work forward to becoming a world class business and part of the economic solution to the issue of more and more people living longer. This conference is for everyone with an interest in the issues, realities, solutions and opportunities created by the demographics of our ageing society (and these extend well beyond care into a new market demographic).

PAYMENT TO REGISTER

We are asking for a small charge (¬£15 + VAT) to cover the costs of logistics and to help ensure people who register actually attend, so we don’t waste food and resources. However, we will be pleased to provide free registration to SH&BA Members, charities, not-for-profit organisations and pensioners. If you are eligible for free registration or you have any other query, please contact the organisers at secretariat@shaba.eu, or call us on +44 (0) 1379 890 442

Find out more and register here