Japan Nursing Home Trials Humanoid Robot for Patrol, Companionship; Call Response Pending

Japanese robotics startup Donut Robotics and nursing-care operator Charm Care have formed a capital and business alliance. Charm Care invested 300 million yen, roughly $2 million, in the company. The two partners plan to jointly introduce the humanoid robot cinnamon into nursing homes. Charm Care runs more than 100 nursing facilities across the Kansai and Greater Tokyo regions, giving the robot a sizable potential testbed.

Since July, one of Charm Care’s fee-based nursing homes has been conducting a field trial of cinnamon. At this stage, the robot is mainly assigned to basic tasks: companion interaction with residents and patrols around the facility. These functions are designed to support staff and provide social engagement, though they do not yet replace core nursing duties.

The robot’s call-response capability is still under development, according to the partners. That function would allow cinnamon to react to residents’ calls or requests, a more complex task that requires further engineering and safety validation. The trial therefore represents an early step toward using humanoid robots in elder care, with deployment currently limited to companionship and monitoring roles while higher-level assistance remains a future goal.