"Caring Robot That Understood 'Save Me' Rescues 70-Year-Old Who Collapsed from Angina"

AI Speaker's "Save Me" Rescue Request

In an apartment in Daejeon, a 'care robot' inside the home saved the life of a man in his 70s who collapsed due to angina by reporting the emergency.

On the 26th, Daejeon Urban Corporation announced that on the 20th at around 2 p.m., a man in his 70s, Mr. A, who collapsed in a permanent rental apartment in Dong-gu, Daejeon, was transported to the hospital and is currently recovering thanks to the care robot’s 119 emergency call. At the time, Mr. A showed symptoms of angina and a brain disorder while inside his home and collapsed. He called out to the care robot’s artificial intelligence (AI) speaker, saying "Save me," requesting help. The care robot detected this and notified the ICT center, which immediately called 119.

Care Robot Service
[Image Source=Provided by Daejeon Urban Corporation, Yonhap News]

When the 119 rescue team arrived at the scene, Mr. A was bleeding from a head injury. After being transported to the hospital, he is currently recovering without any life-threatening conditions. The Daejeon Urban Corporation explained that the advanced sensors of the care robot were able to respond to the emergency and save Mr. A’s life. The corporation installs and operates care robots in permanent rental apartments to prevent solitary deaths. The care robots provide functions such as resident health management and emotional care through AI speakers. Using advanced life-detection sensors, the robots confirm the presence of people within 5 meters in front, measure breathing, heart rate, and body temperature, and detect activity to respond to residents’ emergencies.

A corporation official stated, "There are many elderly residents and socially marginalized groups among the residents of permanent rental apartments, so the risk of solitary death is high. The corporation provides care robot services to prevent solitary deaths and manage the health of these individuals, and plans to expand the service coverage in the future."

When alone and an emergency occurs, residents can receive help by saying commands such as "emergency" or "help me" to the AI speaker or voice recognition service on their mobile phones. In April last year, a man in his 30s, Mr. B, who was trapped for five hours in a semi-basement studio bathroom due to a broken door, successfully escaped with the help of the AI on his mobile phone located 6 meters outside the door.

Mr. B tried to escape the bathroom on his own by removing a metal pipe next to the sink to look through the hole but failed, and he was exhausted after trying to break through the ceiling. He remembered that he had placed his mobile phone on the desk and shouted, "Hi Bixby, emergency call." When the AI seemed not to recognize the command properly, Mr. B called his parents’ phone number, who live in the countryside. His parents, awakened in the middle of the night by their son’s call, understood the words "119, 119" and immediately reported the situation to the police and 119 emergency services. Mr. B was safely rescued within 30 minutes of requesting help from the AI. After being rescued, he said, "If it weren’t for the mobile phone AI, I wouldn’t have been able to contact the police or fire department and probably would have remained trapped until now," adding, "I am grateful to be alive thanks to my mobile phone AI." He also added, "Wherever you go, always carry your mobile phone and secure an escape route."