Pilot project extended for the social robot assistant for the elderly
A new model of the ARI smart robot assistant has been presented at the Smart City Expo World Congress as an example of social innovation applied to improve quality of life for senior citizens. ARI II includes more advanced features than its predecessor and can get around all parts of the home with an autonomy of around 8 hours.
Around 350,000 people over 65 live in Barcelona, 90,000 of them on their own. Various studies show that 90% of these people want to live at home as long as possible before going to live in a home for the elderly or with other family members.
The ARI robot complements personal services which a person might be receiving and introduces configurable elements of artificial intelligence according to each person’s specific needs. Some of the things the robot can help with include quickly identifying sudden emergencies, such as falls and household accidents, controlling medication or reminding people of medical visits.
ARI II has an autonomy of 8 hours and can get around every part of the home, monitor a user, detect and avoid obstacles and act on facial and voice recognition. It also has greater capacity for interaction with users and can be integrated with other applications.
This new version will see the pilot project extended to another hundred homes for the next three years to consolidate the results and explore the possibility of introducing it into the range of solutions offered by social services.
