CHICAGO, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- A basic prototype of a robotic caregiver for the elderly might be a mere three years away, researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago say.

Making at robot caregiver that can understand gestures and bring objects is both possible and important, says lead researcher Milos Zefran, UIC associate professor of electrical and computer engineering.

Zefran's group is working on a $989,000 three-year grant from the National Science Foundation to develop software language allowing the elderly to communicate with robots that can respond to a wide range of verbal language, non-verbal gestures and touch.

Team member Jezekiel Ben-Arie, a professor of computer and electrical engineering at UIC, says he has already patented speech recognition software that can adapt to individual speaking patterns.

"If someone has a stroke, their speech may be slurred. My recognition method, called RISQ, adapts very fast to speech," he says.