Psychophysiological aspects of elderly-assist systems

The ratio of the elderly population is increasing in Japan, while the effort available to care for the elderly is decreasing in society. Assist machines are needed to help the elderly in daily life or work, but sometimes the elderly person is reluctant in using these machines. The assist machines must be psychologically acceptable to the elderly. Taking the lift machine as an example, the elderly person is questioned on how he feels when being cared for. The physiological parameters, such as ECG, EMG and eye mark, are examined while the elderly is moved up at down by the lift. After experiencing the lift, the elderly person is again questioned about how he felt. It is seen that the reaction, as well as the change of mind through the use of the machine, are not uniform, and are highly dependent on the personality of the elderly person towards the machine or the environment.