Very good example of interacting between people and robots

Japan and Korea have often been the leading countries when it comes to developing robots for the elderly, mostly due to their aging populations, but a French company called Robosoft has dipped its toes in the field of elderly care as well (remember that another French company produces the Nao humanoid robot). The robot “Kompai” can interact with its owners by speaking, or it can take commands through the touch screen mounted on its torso. What‘s cool is that it can not only repeat programmed phrases, but it can recognize and understand voices as well.

Kompai is designed to work as a personal assistance robot, helping the elderly remember things like the items on their shopping list or important dates with their doctor. It also provides phone and video communication, through which its owner can contact whoever he or she wants. Besides helping older people, it can also be of great assistance to the disabled, who need help in their daily routines.

There might be those that think this is nothing special, and it’s true that this robot isn’t exactly the most advanced and capable piece of machinery the A.I field has to offer. But take a look at the video, and see just how Kompai helps an elderly person. For the most part, it seems to understand and obey commands very well, for example knowing exactly what to ask in a situation where its owner is not feeling too well. It seems to be lacking in the ability to form grammatically correct sentences, and sometimes it sounds a bit confusing, but it gets it main message across.

One of the best things about Kompai is that it is very easy to operate, and you don’t need any special training sessions to learn how to use it—you just talk and tell it what to do and where to go.

Watch Kompai in action in the video below.

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