With an electronic whir, the machine released a dollop of peach body shampoo, a kind of body wash. As the cleansing, bubbling action kicked in, Toshiko Shibahara, 89, settled back to enjoy the wash- and-soak cycle of her nursing home’s new human washing machine. ; The temperature is just right, the bubbles are really comfortable, she said, happily sealed up to her neck inside Sanyo Electric’s latest elder care product. Turning to an attendant hovering around the pink, clamshell-shaped assisted-care bath, she asked: May I have a bit more water, please? ; Futuristic images of elderly Japanese going through rinse and dry cycles in rows of washing machines may evoke chills. But they also point to where the world’s most rapidly aging nation is heading. This spring Japanese companies plan to start marketing a robot suit, a motorized, battery-operated pair of pants designed to help the aged and infirm move around on their own. ; Then there is the Wakamaru, a mobile, speaking robot equipped with two camera eyes. It is used largely by workers who want to keep an eye on their elderly parents at home. These devices and others in the
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