An Israeli startup has come up with a novel product designed to be an AI meant for the elderly. The ElliQ – a brainchild of folks at Intuition Robotics – uses vast array of technologies to connect older adults with families and friends.
The company’s product is described as an “active aging companion,” and is a combination of a tablet with Siri or Alexa, along with a specific software. One of the most defining features about ElliQ is the moving bobble-head that accompanies the rest of the set-up. It moves up and down so as to acknowledge the inputs given by the user. It also gives the assistant a bit of a personality with its cute movements.
ElliQ is an active aging companion for older adults (Intuition Robotics)
The ElliQ will help users navigate through social media, play music and podcasts as well as notify users of messages they receive. It’ll do this through vocal and visual push notifications, thanks to the tablet screen. The user can then dictate their response to messages to ElliQ.
Because it runs on AI, it’ll be able to remind users for when they need to take their daily medicines, when they have to be reminded for appointments and other activities. The AI will also be able to adapt to the users’ behaviour on time.
The assistant also comes with an app for the user’s loved ones to monitor them and keep track of their health and activities. Of course, there’s no explanation as to how they are going to accomplish that, but the company promises that it’ll adapt itself well to the user’s life. Currently, the assistant isn’t available for purchase just yet. But those interested can sign up on the website and be informed of pricing and availability.
We’re not sure exactly how well the elders would take to using the device. But there definitely would have been some testing before the final build. But how much help do elders really need for specialized assistants anyway? Isn’t an Echo enough by itself? Well, ElliQ doesn’t think so, and maybe with its extra peripherals, it could be a good deal.
