As Mick Jagger famously sang, "What a drag it is getting old". Though with a net worth of about $360 million and holding court in the pantheon of rock-n-roll gods, Mick Jagger is probably greying about as well as anyone could at age 74. He certainly will have nothing to worry about when the day comes that he can no longer do the rooster strut; Jagger can afford the best elder care money can buy. Most of us probably won't have the financial means to hire a team of 20-something-year-old nurses in short, black latex skirts to take care of us when we become dirty old men. The best most of us can hope for is not to be locked in a closet and left to stew in our own feces.

In Japan, famous for the longevity of its people, their endearing use of engrish, and their fetish for girls in Catholic school uniforms, the care of the elderly is a particularly acute problem. A third of the Japanese population is reportedly above the age of 60, and the number of people over 90 years of age just topped two million for the first time. Add in a rapidly shrinking population, and you have a country where you have more people eating the early bird special than not. So it's no surprise that Japan is leading the world in robotic elder care, offering a glimpse into our geriatric future.