Robot a revolution in aged care IN TUNE: Brendan Kelly, 73, meets aged care's newest recruit Matilda the robot. ROBOT that will ring your relatives to remind them they haven't visited could be the future in caring for the elderly. Nicknamed "Matilda," the robot incorporates emotionally intelligent software that can read a person's feelings by the tone in their voice and interact accordingly. Developed by Melbourne and Japanese scientists, the 40cm-tall robot was previewed at last week's Aged Care Queensland state conference. "What we have done is incorporate human senses of touch, speech, motion and feeling into Matilda," chief inventor and La Trobe University associate Professor Rajiv Khosla said. It can track your facial expressions and detect your emotional state. Matilda may ask you a question, and if she detects a negative expression through anxiety she takes a note of that and she might say 'Don't be anxious, I was just trying to help'. It is not about dictating, it is more about understanding. Researchers are designing the robots to suit individual countries, with Matilda sporting an Australian accent. "It also uses colloquial terms like 'g'day' and 'mate'," Prof Khosla said. Prof Khosla told the conference that globally, as the population continues to age, finding carers to look after the increasing number of elderly would be difficult. "The cost of care will become an increasing problem and the longer we can keep the elderly independent and at home and connected to society the better," he said. Matilda would keep the elderly connected through a variety of methods, including being able to dial up the internet, organise and pay the bills for you and make phone calls on a person's behalf. It would also look after a person's health by taking care of dietary needs and reminding them of their medication. "And it is able to give you a cuddle and cheer you up when you are down," he said. The robot is set for its first trial in an aged care facility in Queensland but details about where and when the trial will take place are still confidential. The technology has been more than 13 years in the making and has cost millions of dollars. Prof Khosla said the aim of the project would be to eventually make the robot affordable enough to be in thousands of homes across the world.