Kompott robot lets elderly stay connected via its touchscreen head

Technology in all forms has brought us all together, while phones and computers have made communication easy, social networking sites have opened a new world of connection amid us. Now, such forms of technology haven’t made all that success with the elderly who still look for ways to be closer to their family and friends, virtually if not really. For this students at Zurich University of the Arts’ Interaction Design lab in Switzerland, have developed a telepresence and communication robot dubbed the Kompott.

kompott communication robot

The robot gathers virtual content varying from emails to video, which can be accessed using the bot’s touchscreen head. The head displays intuitive icons which can be browsed through by tapping on the left and the right side of the robots head, while tapping on the icon to open it. There is a large button on Kompott’s chest that gives access to all the contacts of the user. For the ones who have difficulty in reading or writing replies, the robot uses a speech synthesis technique to read out the message, and speech-to-text technique to take voice commands to type out email and other types of messages. Robots like the Kompott will definitely relieve elderly and other neglected (in any way) individuals to kill their isolation, but unfortunately, there are no plans of making to robot public as yet.

Via: PlasticPals/SlashGear