By Eddie Wrenn
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Imagine for a moment you are lying in a sterile hospital bed, in the last few quiet moments of your life, taking your final breaths.
A smooth white robot starts gently rubbing your arm with a swing-saw motion and then, with a metallic voice, says: 'I am the Last Moment Robot. I am here to help you and guide you through your last moment on Earth.
'I am sorry that your family and friends can't be with you right now, but don't be afraid. I am here to comfort you. You are not alone, you are with me. Your family and friends love you very much, they will remember you after you are gone. '
Last moments: The robot gently swings its arm back and forth to simulate a relaxing stroke
Is this a better way to go than dying alone? Or is it creepy? Is this kind of affection wanted when it is received by placebo, or worse, simply the pre-recorded responses from an unthinking, programmed machine?
So far, this is not a real hospital bed, or a real patient.
Instead the questions posed are from artist and designer Dan Chen, who designed this set-up to question our responses to machine intimacy.
Crave, an artist, designer, and engineer who just graduated from the School of Design in Rhode Island, said the design 'reveals the cruelty of life, lack of human support/social connections.
'On the other hand, the robot becomes something that you can trust/depend on. It could give you the "placebo effect" of comfort.'
No substitute - but better than dying alone? Designer Dan Chen, from Rhode Island, created the project to pose questions about ethics, humanity, and the potential role of robots for care
Chen, who graduated in 'Digital + Media', wrote his master's thesis entitled 'File Save As Intimacy" (PDF )', to explore what he terms 'robotic intimacy technology'.
He has built various other loving machines, such as a 'hugging robot' and a 'purring machine'.
The Last Moment Robot is a padded, caressing arm, with a recorded voice ready to offer support and comfort in the last moments of someone's life.
It was displayed at an interactive art installation called Last Moment Hospital and at Brown University Science Center, also in Rhode Island.
End of the line: As the patient slips away, the robot offers affectionate words of comfort
At this point, the "doctor" exits the room, leaving the patient alone.
'Within moments, the LEDs read "End of life detected," and the robotic arm begins its back-and-forth caressing action in what is supposed to be a comforting gesture, that Chen says tends to cause visitors a "paradoxical sensation of comfort and discomfort."'
Chen added: 'The device is meant to raise questions.
'The process of dying is probably the most vulnerable moment of a human life, where one seeks the assurance of human connection. In this installation, human presence is replaced with a robot, questioning the quality of intimacy without humanity.'
This is just an art project for the moment, but as the decades pass and technology improves, who knows in which direction the path to robots will lead us.
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How awful. ....... What a truly horrible invention.
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I would imagine that the vast majority of us have are frightened by the idea of passing on, I know I am . For me, any words of comfort during my last moments, even from a robot, would be better than no comfort at all.
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If I was waiting to die and it started to talk...I would be happy..to wrap my hands around its neck and say..okay sucker let's do this together..and strangle it...
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TJ what a lovely thing to say and do. That would really comfort me
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Soylent Green is people!!
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It took 2 days for my dad to die, my mother never once held his hand. He died alone about 10 mins after i left to do the school run, the guilt is awful.
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So, this is what we're coming to.
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All my friends and family are much older than me. When I go, there will be no one with me. Even mechanical, I would like 'something' to be there to hold my hand.
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As a nurse I have unfortunately been with patients whose family couldn't be bothered to be there for their final moments. I've had them ask "When are they going to die?" as if the waiting was a huge inconvenience. One woman told me "I have a vacation planned!" when I told her that I could not give her an exact time. When we have people who are all alone we will often try to work together to make sure someone remains in the room as much as possible, so they won't die alone. I hate the dea of a robot, maybe human volunteers would work better. I read this once, and have used it with any patient I know is Christian "I'll hold your hand on this side, and Jesus will hold it on the other side, so you won't be alone through this.". It seems to give them comfort. Death doesn't have to be a bleak, miserable moment. We have drugs to help with the pain, and basic human touch can help more than anything.
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Yes, it's hideous, but it's an art installation, designed to raise questions. It's not real!
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