The key consideration is: Who is going to use these robots? The answer is obvious -- the swollen generation now nearing retirement age. These people are going to need help from wherever they can get it; their children will certainly not be up to the task of providing the needed amount of physical and medical care, as well as companionship, diversion and, yes, fun, in the home, in nursing-care facilities and in hospitals. As the developed world's populations age, the question of who is going to look after the growing ranks of elderly is no longer purely academic.
The way many researchers see it, robotics technology is nearing the point of genuinely popular usefulness just in time.
The Japan Times: Nov. 14, 2004
EDITORIAL
Robots and us