Finally, it may sound like science fiction, but as soon as this winter, a robot Companion will begin beta-testing at select Silverado and Marriott Senior Living Services communities. The brainchild of Santa Barbara, California-based start-up InTouch Health Inc., the Companion is designed to allow corporate and regional experts to virtually visit at a moment's notice, says CEO Dr. Yulun Wang. The Companion resembles a pedestal topped by a screen fitted with a video cameral where the expert's face will appear and can communicate in real time with staff and caregivers. From a remote desktop computer, or CareStation, the expert will speak via a microphone and use a joystick to pan up and down, side to side, and revolve the screen allowing complete vision of the room through a broadband connection. Communication will be further facilitated through a wireless network, and the joystick will also allow the expert to move the Companion remotely throughout the facility.

Wang likens training before the Companion to coaching a football team in a classroom-a shortcoming that extends to videoconferencing, which is typically scheduled and preformed in a group setting.

"You go out on the football field, and the coaches are constantly watching, monitoring, and interacting with the players," he adds. "There are offensive, defensive, and other special coaches. The assisted living (community) is the playing field, the caregivers the teammates, the experts are the coaches, and they need to interact."

Currently, a half dozen experts have to be constantly on airplanes to meet the needs of Silverado's 12 communities, which average 100 residents each. At, $1,800 per month per Companion and $400 per month per remote station, using the Companion could be much more cost- and time-effective, as well as put an expert on the spot right when a problem occurs, Shook says. "The group (of staff members) can describe the behavior, role model, practice, and the robot can move around, so if the resident exhibits the behavior when the robot is there, we can see it," he adds.

Over time, Shook says he hopes that the Companion will simply blend into the environment, helping with a variety of functions such as dementia mapping. A more warm and fuzzy function for the Companion would be virtual visits between the resident and family members or friends. If several Companions are on-premises, this could take place concurrently with training and meeting functions, Wang says. He cites the example of a colleague whose mother has Alzheimer's and can only visit her mother every few weeks. She phones her every day, but because of the disease's affect on her mother's short-term memory, her mother never remembers the calls.

"She gets very depressed when she doesn't think (her daughter) has contacted her, but she has," Wang says. By being remotely present, she can actually see her daughter as well as speaking with her."

"It's like TV," he adds. "(Residents) are familiar with watching TV, she's familiar with you, so our expectation is that will overcome any fear factor."