Home robot to nudge older people to stay social and active

A ROBOT companion for older people aims to promote activity and tackle loneliness by nudging them to take part in digital and physical activities. A prototype of the ElliQ robot, made by Israel-based start-up Intuition Robotics, will be unveiled at the Design Museum in London this week. ElliQ is a small desktop device that consists of a stylised domed "body" and a separate detachable screen. Created in collaboration with Swiss designer Yves Béhar, the robot is able to tilt and turn to indicate what it is doing and encourage a degree of social engagement. Similar to home assistants like the Amazon Echo, people can simply talk to it, and there are visual cues that could be particularly helpful for those with hearing difficulties. A key purpose of ElliQ is to act as an easy interface to access existing services such as social media, messaging programs, and audio and video streaming.