The senior housing market is moving beyond simply providing living space, with "smart care" that combines advanced technology emerging as a core competitive edge. That is because it must address both surging demand for care and chronic labor shortages. The Bank of Korea projected that in about 20 years, the care services sector could face a shortfall of up to 1.55 million workers. In other words, a model that relies solely on human labor for care is hitting its limits.
Santafe Garden Hills in Ota Ward, Tokyo, visited on Jan. 23, is one of Japan's leading pioneers in smart care. This eldercare facility actively uses a range of information technology (IT) including care robots and artificial intelligence (AI). It is regarded as a frontline facility for future-oriented smart care that officials from Korea and abroad visit to benchmark, including key Japanese cabinet members such as former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and former Digital Minister Taro Kono.
This facility has a variety of smart devices that assist with care. Under the mattress in each room is a device that can check breathing, heart rate, and sleep status. On the ceiling, an infrared camera with AI technology, "HitomeQ Care Support," analyzes seniors' movements to detect falls and other incidents in real time. There is also a device called "DFree" that attaches to the abdomen and uses ultrasound to indicate the amount of urine in the bladder. Zenkokai also developed its own software that turns information collected here—such as sleep, meals, bowel movements, and medications—into data.
Care workers wearing bone-conduction earphones and carrying smartphones and tablets said they can now care for seniors more efficiently. Zenkokai Deputy Minister Yoshimura Ayako said, "Before introducing smart care, walking more than 20,000 steps a day was routine," adding, "Now we can respond at the right time and place when there are warning signs, which has reduced physical and mental strain and, by not disturbing seniors' sleep, has greatly helped improve the quality of care."
Among care robots is the mobility-assist robot "Hug." Hug is a robot that eases the burden of movement. I personally tried Hug, which looks like it is opening its arms wide for an embrace, as its name suggests. I relaxed my body and leaned my chest against the soft cushion on the front of the robot. After a staffer pressed a few buttons, my body tilted forward, and I stood up from my seat without having to exert any force. I was worried about slipping, but Hug supported my body more firmly than I expected. Then, with the locking mechanism released, the wheeled Hug could be moved with little effort. In the past, this would have required two robust staff members to use force, but now a single worker can help a senior move to the bathroom while checking the person's complexion.
Major Korean builders are also trying to incorporate care robots into senior housing in step with this trend. Samsung C&T institutional sector's construction division conducted a pilot of the "home AI companion robot" service from September to December last year for residents of Samsung Noble County, a silver dwellings complex in Yongin, Gyeonggi, and Raemian One Bailey and Raemian One Pentas in Banpo-dong, Seocho District, Seoul. Developed mainly for single seniors or senior couples, the robot is about 30 cm tall, 21 cm wide, 20 cm deep, and weighs around 4 kg, and features a 5-inch screen capable of expressing emotions. Although not robots, Hyundai and GS Engineering & Construction are also developing and expanding AI-based healthcare services for residents.
In Korea, however, smart care is still in its infancy. Care robots remain limited to simple conversation functions, voice calls, Internet of Things (IoT) device control, and emergency alerts. A survey by the Health Insurance Research Institute under the National Health Insurance Service of long-term care facility managers found that only 3.9% of institutions use care robots. They said robots are needed to ease staff's physical and mental burdens, but high expense and the difficulty staff face in using them were cited as obstacles.
Japan, by contrast, has actively supported the introduction of smart care at the government level since the 2010s. In 2012, it selected six priority areas for the development and dissemination of care robots and began providing subsidies for related products. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has implemented a program subsidizing up to 75% of the purchase expense for designated care robots, and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has been providing research funds to robot developers. In the 2026 budget proposal for the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, large-scale resources were allocated to care technology development and support programs for adoption in nursing facilities.
Zenkokai, which began research on the use of care robots in 2009, is among those receiving support from the Japanese government. Zenkokai established a research institute dedicated to care robot research and also operates a private certification program aimed at training "smart care workers." About 12,000 people have earned this certification so far, and some care workers come to this facility for practical training.
Facility Director Toyama Tatsuya said, "Initially, manufacturers provided products on a trial basis, but over the past 10 years we have received support from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry for three-quarters or one-half of the device introduction expense," adding, "The goal of smart care is not to make care workers' jobs easy, but to reduce the physical burden of repetitive tasks by assigning them to robots and thereby improve the quality of direct care."