Technology that monitors people's health remotely, also known as telecare, is often cheap to roll out and can allow people who want more independence to achieve that, said Prof Tom Sorrell at the University of Warwick, who has studied telecare and care robotics.

LIKE ELITE athletes, dairy cows have exacting nutritional requirements. "If you're slightly up on protein, or down on carbs, you'll see a drop in milk production," says Robbie Walker, the boss of Keenan Systems, an Irish firm which makes feed-mixing wagons. For that reason, the firm's latest products have gone digital. With the help of Intel, a big American chipmaker, Keenan has developed a computer that can be attached to its wagons. Sensors on the wagon weigh what the farmer puts into the mixer and compare it with what the recipe calls for.

Sensors enable a dancer to play the piano using only dance moves.