Health

Guiding the sustainable and healthy development of the elderly care robot industry

2025-03-13   

Recently, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) officially released the International Standard for Elderly Care Robots (IEC 63310 "Performance Guidelines for Active Assisted Living Robots Used in Connected Home Environments") led by China, aiming to provide technical guidance for various elderly care robots around the world that is more in line with the physiological and behavioral characteristics of the elderly population. The first release of this standard specification is not only a concentrated reflection of the rapid development trend of the domestic smart elderly care industry, but also a comprehensive presentation of China's technological strength and global influence in the field of robotics. The formulation and implementation of the International Standards can not only accelerate the release of technological dividends such as artificial intelligence, better meet the personalized and diversified elderly care service needs of the global elderly population, but also continuously consolidate and enhance China's discourse and leadership in the construction of the international standard system for artificial intelligence, further expressing China's confidence and determination in open cooperation and mutual benefit. The compilation and release of this International Standard mainly relies on China's technological accumulation in the fields of big data, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things in recent years. It focuses on the perception, physical and cognitive decline of the elderly population in China, and focuses on the domestic connected home environment. From multiple aspects such as functional design, scene interaction, and data management, it transforms China's experience in elderly care robot technology into international rules. This not only reflects China's humanistic care of "technology for the good", but also demonstrates the influence of standard rule making power on the development of the global elderly care industry. The formulation and implementation of the International Standards can bring new opportunities for the healthy development of the global smart elderly care industry and promote the construction of a new global elderly care technology ecosystem. From the perspective of product design, the International Standards clarify technical benchmarks from multiple aspects such as product design, development and manufacturing, quality testing, and product certification for elderly care robots. This provides a more stable product development framework and clear design goals for elderly care robot manufacturers. From the perspective of enterprise development, the International Standards can comprehensively guide enterprises to promote fine management of various links in the industrial chain and supply chain according to the daily life and health care needs of the elderly population, effectively improving resource allocation efficiency and operational efficiency. From the perspective of industry collaboration, leading the development of international standards for elderly care robots can accelerate the compatibility and coordination of smart elderly care industries and their technical standards between China and foreign countries. This will help China's elderly care robot products and services enter the international market, enhance the industry's international competitiveness and influence. In short, the continuous innovation of this international standard led by China will not only bring "smart" well-being to the global elderly population, but also lead the promotion of "smart elderly care" as a new engine for global economic growth. Overall, the formulation and implementation of the International Standards is an important milestone for China's development in the fields of technological innovation and elderly care. It can further reduce the labor input and time cost of elderly caregivers, alleviate the social burden and group risks brought by population aging, and improve the quality of life and happiness of the elderly population. At a time of rapid development in the elderly care robot industry, there is also a need for some "cold observation" and "cold thinking" to guide the sustainable and healthy development of the elderly care robot industry. Firstly, we must be vigilant about the risk of sensitive information leakage among the elderly. In fact, the more precise and detailed the decision-making services provided by elderly care robots, the stronger their demand for privacy data such as basic physiological and medical care, social behavior, and interest preferences of the elderly population will become. The more complete and comprehensive the collection of privacy data, the greater the possibility of it being stolen or exposed, and the risk of privacy leakage for the elderly population will also be higher. Secondly, we should be vigilant about the risk of technological dependence among the elderly. Following pre-set functional instructions and program specifications, elderly care robots can greatly meet the care and emotional needs of the elderly without technical failures. However, excessive reliance on the functionality of elderly care robots may also lead to a "one-way emotional connection" among the elderly, resulting in a relatively weakened social and emotional connection in physical space, which may threaten the physical and mental health of the elderly. In fact, whether it is rehabilitation robots, nursing robots, or companionship robots, they are all emergency needs in the absence of social care. However, robots are still machines, lacking the biological attributes that humans are born with, and therefore cannot fundamentally reflect human emotions and behavioral patterns. Again, we must be vigilant about responsibility conflicts in the context of technological evolution. For example, when an elderly person urgently needs medication due to a sudden heart attack, but the communication failure of the elderly care robot prevents them from giving correct instructions, who should bear the responsibility and consequences of the infringement of the elderly person's right to life and health? There is still controversy over the responsible parties and their attribution of such artificial intelligence. In short, the release and implementation of the International Standard provides new ideas and methodological guidance for solving the problem of elderly care in society, but it should also be noted that this standard currently focuses more on the functional evaluation of elderly care robots. Facing the future, while widely applying advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, we must not only prevent the risks that may arise from technological development and application, but also integrate humanistic care and emotional support into the process of technological application, in order to truly achieve elderly care. The world is entering an aging era today. According to the World Health Organization's forecast data, by 2050, the global population aged 60 and above will reach 2.1 billion, with over 400 million people aged 80 and above. Therefore, how to provide more accurate and effective elderly care services will become a common social problem faced by countries around the world. The release of this International Standard fully reflects China's role as a leader in technological governance, a promoter of industrial transformation, and a practitioner of humanistic care, striving to contribute its strength to the global governance of elderly care services. (New Press) a

Edit:Ou Xiaoling Responsible editor:Shu Hua

Source:GuangMing Net

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