Robos to assist the aged in Japan.

In Tokyo this week at a home care and rehabilitation convention, the buyers were gathered round a demonstration of Secom’s My spoon feeding robot, which will help the elderly or disabled people eat with spoon and fork fitted swiveling arm.
Operating a joystick with the his chin, developer Shigehisa Kobayashi maneuvered the arm towards a block of silken tofu, deftly getting the fork to break off a bite-sized piece. The arm then returned to a pre programmed position in front of the mouth allowing Kobayashi to bite and swallow. “Its all about empowering people to help themselves” Kobayashi said.
The Tokyo based company has already sold 300 of the robots, which come with a price tag of 408,100 yen ($ 3,500). “We want to give the elderly control over their own lives” he said.