TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Toyota Motor Corporation unveiled Welwalk WW-1000 on Wednesday (April 12) , a robot designed to assist in rehabiliation of patients who have lower limb paralysis.
Dozens of journalists gathered at Toyota Motors Tokyo headquarter office to observe a demonstration of the new robot, which comes with a wide variety of rehabilitiation functions that adjusts itself to the user. The robot consists of a treadmill, a monitor, and a robotic leg that assists individuals with lower limb paralysis to bend their knees or perform stretching movements.
Toyota has invested heavily in artificial intelligence as part of its push into self-driving cars, and has said it may become a maker of A.I. robots to help the elderly.
People aged 65 or over accounted for 26.7 percent of Japan’s population in 2015, compared to the global average of about 8.5 percent.
The robot will be available to hire from autumn 2017. An initial rental fee is 1 million yen ($9,117), while the monthly fee is 350,000 yen (($3,197). The main body, which consists of the treadmill and the monitor, weights about 800 kilograms, while the robotic leg weights about 6 kilograms.
Toyota is aiming to rent at least 100 Wellwalks to medical facilities by autumn 2017.
