Assistive Humanoid Robots for the Elderly with Mild Cognitive Impairment

There is a growing need worldwide in new technologies to assist elderly individuals in their daily lives, especially those that suffer from mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Autonomous robots have been suggested and already tested for this task in multiple contexts, such as hospitals and retirement homes. Humanoid robots, with their advanced sensing and motor capabilities, are well suited for this task, especially considering that they are usually designed to perform in human-scale environments. This chapter presents various humanoid research works and projects that have been conducted with humanoid robots and elderly individuals, along with assistive technologies that could be used with humanoid robots and the challenges that remain ahead.