The global population is living longer,and getting older,which presents new challenges. "The question becomes:who will take care of everyone? While people will always be the best caregivers for people,there just aren't enough people. That's where robotic technology can really make a difference," says Professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California. Her group is developing robots to work with stroke   patients and elderly people. The research team has found that people react well to a robot gym instructor,and seem to get less frustrated with it than with instructions given on a computer screen. The robot can act as a perfect trainer,with infinite  patience. "People say things like 'I prefer this robot to my husband!Can I take it home?'" according to Professor Mataric. "In fact there's a really important point here. As we create these care giving technologies,we're helping not only the people that need the care,but also the people caring for them. We can give them a break,and help them avoid _ ." People are going to have to like,and importantly trust robots before they welcome them into their homes,and several groups around the world are working on making it easier to communicate with them. Much of human communication takes place through body language. Gestures, eye contact , and concepts of personal space are all things that robots are being taught. In learning about how people interact  with machines,researchers are also discovering new roles for robots in our lives. Robots can communicate with humans in ways that other technologies can not. "If someone finds the robot to be more persuasive and more reliable,that's going to affect how they interact with it," says Dr Cynthia Breazeal, director of the Personal Robots Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "We can now start to think about fields where it's the social interaction,which is the main means by which a robot helps someone." Dr Breazeal says that means robots could be used in education,learning,and health care,where social support is important. Why can robots be wonderful trainers in the gym?
Because they are more clever. Because they give correct instructions. Because they cost less money. Because they are more patient.