When the carer has dementia too: Japan turns to physical AI to rescue eldercare
Some Japanese words resist translation. Take rōrō kaigo (老老介護). The character rō means “elderly”, and repeating it describes an elderly person caring for another elderly person, such as an 80-year-old husband looking after his equally frail wife on his own. That is the reality the word captures. Then there is the darker ninnin kaigo (認認介護). […] The post When the carer has dementia too: Japan…
When the carer suffers from dementia too, Japan turns to physical AI to rescue eldercare. The term "rōrō kaigo" refers to elderly people looking after other elderly individuals, while "ninnin kaigo" describes a situation where both caregivers and their recipients have dementia. Japan faces a significant caregiver shortage due to an aging population and a lack of professionals willing or able to take on the demanding work.
Physical AI and next-generation communications are being utilized to address this crisis, with Japanese companies holding expertise in physical robotics. The societal impact of caregiving is becoming unsustainable without technological help. Caregiving-focused physical AI must adapt to changing environments, safely interact with humans, and operate reliably for extended periods.
Care robots perform tasks such as patient transfers, mobility assistance, and supply restocking. Enactic, a Tokyo-based startup, develops physical AI solutions for caregiving environments, with humanoid care assistant robots like Ena handling peripheral chores to free human caregivers for personal and emotional support. Enactic has already signed MOUs with over 80 caregiving organizations in Japan, aiming to begin pilot testing in care facilities by summer 2026.
Written by urgent.news from e27's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
