Wiley White Paper Defines CRAS Six-Level Scale for Wellness Robot Autonomy

The white paper introduces CRAS modeled directly on SAE J3016 autonomous driving levels to quantify robot independence in seven ICAA wellness dimensions. It separates wellness robots from companion devices and medical hardware by requiring multi-domain integration rather than single-task execution. Staffing shortages and dementia prevalence are cited as drivers, with current tools limited to reminders and fall detectors. Clinical evidence reviewed includes small-scale trials of robots performing scripted wellness prompts, yet lacks randomized data on sustained outcomes or error rates above level 2. The framework demands explicit capabilities in real-time adaptation and care coordination that exceed existing platforms like PARO. Safety validation remains unaddressed in the presented roadmap. Operational deployment requires regulators to map CRAS levels to liability standards before 2030 targets. Trust metrics must incorporate failure modes in unstructured homes, where level 3 autonomy risks incorrect wellness interventions without human override. Three-phase progression hinges on clinical datasets that do not yet exist at required scale. Next steps include platform developers publishing CRAS self-assessments against IEEE robotics safety protocols and operators piloting level 2 systems with logged incident rates below 0.1 percent per resident-day.