Investors: Press Release
GeckoSystems' Elder Care Robot Trial Caregiver "Looks in" on Mother While Shopping
CONYERS, Ga., Aug. 6, 2010 -- GeckoSystems Intl. Corp. (PINKSHEETS: GCKO) -- announced today that one of their care giver participants has "looked in" on her mother while shopping. Her testimonial characterizes some of the benefits she is realizing from the CareBot™ and its remote monitoring and telepresence capabilities.
GeckoSystems is a dynamic leader in the emerging Mobile Service Robot (MSR) industry revolutionizing their development and usage with their "Mobile Robot Solutions for Safety, Security, and Service™".
"In the past I have not been able to 'look in' on my elderly mother at home alone while I was out shopping. There was always a concern if she was okay during my absence, especially if she had some new health issue. Today, for the first time, I was able to watch her while grocery shopping at Ingles with the help of her CareBot.
"I took my Dell netbook with me. (They are much smaller than a laptop, light to carry with a long battery life and easy to use.) Through the Sprint DataCard in the netbook, using Skype, I remotely connected to the video camera on her personal robot. I was able to see her the entire time I was away from home! I had the netbook opened in the grocery cart with a great view of my mother.
"As I shopped I knew she was doing fine. In the past I would be in a hurry and anxious to get back home. This time I was able to relax and take more time doing meal planning and buying groceries. In this situation, the CareBot definitely helped me in the care of my mother by reducing some of the anxiety associated with that care," concluded the caregiver.
GeckoSystems is protecting the privacy of its elder care robot trials' participants with a sincere commitment to maintain their identities confidential.
Like an automobile, mobile robots are made from steel, aluminum, plastic, and electronics, but with fifty to one hundred times the amount of software running. The CareBot has an aluminum frame, plastic shroud, two independently driven wheels, multiple sensor systems, microprocessors and several onboard computers connected in a local area network (LAN). The microprocessors directly interact with the sensor systems and transmit data to the onboard computers. The onboard computers each run independent, highly specialized cooperative/subsumptive artificial intelligence (AI) software programs, GeckoSavants™, which interact to complete tasks in a timely, intelligent and common sense manner.
"We are learning that valued family behaviors can be readily expressed to the care receiver using a CareBot due to the robustness of its functionality. There seems to be a very important positive --and unforeseen by some parties-- impact of valued family behaviors for all members in using a CareBot to communicate their thoughts and feelings to their beloved family members," commented Martin Spencer, President/CEO, GeckoSystems.
Some believe that the technology is approved and paid for through options such as the Assistive Technology Act of 1998, which broadens the definition, use, and funding of technology at home. Other sources include long-term care insurance, Medicare and Medicaid, Medicaid waivers, and (potentially) stimulus funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, under the provisions for health information technology and electronic medical records for acute care.
The elderly frequently endure loneliness and/or loss of independence when living in nursing homes or other assisted living facilities. This new type of remote medical monitoring system, a CareBot, will postpone, if not eliminate that trauma to them. Their families can now better manage the difficult decisions regarding the independence they allow their now dependent parent while enabling the caregiver to hold their risk at a tolerable and acceptable level.
"Since late last year, we have been conducting these world's first elder care robot trials. We have learned a great deal about expected and unexpected human to machine interactions in an elder care setting. Our expectations of anticipated benefits have been, in some instances, much more gratifying than we believed prior to initiating these trials. Consequently our conviction as to there being extraordinary pent up demand for personal assistance robots, like our CareBot, bode well for the ROI that our hundreds of investors expect and deserve," stated Spencer.