Meet Ludwig, the Canadian-made robot helping assess dementia

A retirement home in north Toronto is preparing to welcome an unusual resident: Ludwig, an artificially intelligent robot. Adorned with spiky mauve-coloured hair, green-tinged eyes and a few quirky facial expressions to mimic a range of emotions, the two-foot-tall robot is made to look and act like a little boy. By drawing his elderly neighbours into conversation, Ludwig's creators say he can track and monitor signs of Alzheimer's disease or dementia. He's so good, he can detect subtle changes in speech and vocal patterns that might escape retirement home staff, says Isaac Weinroth, executive director of One Kenton Place, where Ludwig will begin trials next month. "Even things like the time gap between verbs, or the use of verbs, or lack of verbs, the time gap between sentences, between words in sentences," he says.