1.1 OVERVIEW
Though the adoption of elderly care is still low compared with other service robots, there have been many technological advancements in elderly care robots equipped with artificial intelligence (AI). Owing to the high costs and limited availability of service robots for elderly care, they are mostly being used in rehabilitation centers. AI integrated service robots targeted towards elderly care applications are still at an initial or rudimentary phase, i.e. the penetration of such robots has begun in the last 2-3 years.
TABLE 1. AI ROBOTS MARKET FOR DEMENTIA CARE APPLICATION, BY REGION, 2015–2023 (USD MILLION)
Region 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2023 CAGR (2018–2023)
North America 33.3 39.4 47.4 58.3 72.2 119.7 229.6 31.5%
APAC 32.1 38.2 46.2 59.7 77.8 142.1 299.6 38.1%
Europe 12.0 14.5 17.9 21.7 26.5 42.6 79.0 29.4%
RoW 6.7 7.5 8.6 10.3 12.6 19.9 36.5 28.7%
Total 84.1 99.6 120.1 150.1 189.1 324.4 644.7 33.8%
Source: Expert Interview, Company Press Release, and MarketsandMarkets Analysis
1.2 NORTH AMERICA
Although the US and Canada are not facing a shortfall of caregivers for elders facing dementia, these countries are investing in the development of AI-based robots. For instance, in 2017, the US toy maker Hasbro teamed up with researchers from Brown University to add AI capabilities into its Joy for all robotic pets to help assist the elderly. Pillo Health, one of the start-ups in the US, offers medicine dispensing robots named Pillo. Tombot, another start-up in the US, is expected to release its AI based robot dog for its therapeutic use in a few upcoming years. The AI service robot named JIBO has been discontinued as it did not perform up to expectations. Foreign companies including Intuition Robotics (Israel) are introducing their ElliQ service robots through pre-orders in the US.
TABLE 2 AI ROBOTS MARKET FOR DEMENTIA CARE APPLICATION IN US, 2015-2023 (USD MILLION)
Country 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2023 CAGR (2018-2023)
United States 24.6 29.1 35.5 44.4 56.9 99.8 194.2 27.8%
Source: Expert Interview, Company Press Release, and MarketsandMarkets Analysis
APAC
Japan has a large percentage of fast growing geriatric population. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Japan expects the robotic service industry to grow to nearly USD 4 billion annually by 2035. Owing to a projected shortage in the number of caregivers, the Japanese government has been funding various projects for the development of elder care service robots. Robots such as the Pepper and PARO are often being used in elderly rehabilitation centers. Out of 5,000 PARO robots used globally, about 3,000 are being used in Japan. South Korea has also been recently developing service robots such as the MyBom and SilBot from the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), for the elderly with a focus on AI.
EUROPE
Similar to Japan, elderly care is also becoming a fast-growing problem in Europe. It is observed that only research institutes and universities are developing elder care robots, and hence not many such robots are commercialized yet. For instance, the Fraunhofer IPA and Mojin Robotics in Germany have recently released the Care-O-Bot 4, a mobile robot, one of the most advanced assistive robots. Countries such as Denmark and Spain have also developed their own service robots for elderly care such as the MARIO and Robalz. In Denmark, about 400 PARO robots are being used in old age homes.
REST OF WORLD
Several upcoming start-ups in this region are beginning to develop AI-based service robots. For instance, Hoo.Box robotics from Brazil developed a robotic wheelchair that can be controlled via facial expressions, as well as using voice commands. However, such AI-based robots developed in this region are not as sophisticated as robots developed in the US, Japan or Germany.
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