If you are always worried about leaving your child alone at home while you are out, maybe you should meet Charlie. A member of the PaPeRo (Partner Personal Robot) family, he is a rosy cheeked robot who will not only talk to your child, but sing, dance, play games, tell stories, narrate jokes and also send you live streams of your little one while you are away. And don’t worry about your child crying or feeling hungry because Charlie can read expressions, understand feelings and will send you a text immediately notifying you of any mood change.
Though he does sound like a character out of a next generation sci-fi novel, Charlie is real and has been invented by an alumnus of IIT-Delhi Professor Rajiv Khosla from Australia’s la Trobe University and Japanese electronics company NEC Corp.
Supporting over 11 languages including Hindi and Tamil, the robots of the PaPeRo family have the ability to provide social service to people on demand. According to Khosla, a trial conducted in seven homes in Melbourne proved that these “companion robots” help people with dementia and autism, specifically. “These robots are non-judgemental unlike human beings. They provide positive stimulus to an individual and initiate natural interaction. One doesn’t need to learn how to operate the robot, they can just interact normally. They also design their service based on individual lifestyles. Thus when people with autism or dementia interact with these robots, they feel positive, happy and more confident of making conversation. It makes them receptive and supports them emotionally,” he said.
Khosla, who is known in Melbourne for his social innovation in technology and emotionally responsive robots, shared that the idea is based on the concept of social innovation. “I wanted to address social problems at a global, national, societal and individual level. So I looked at social problems like dementia and autism and based our idea on three high-level concepts — wisdom, well-being and peace. Education translated wisdom, well-being was in terms of healthcare and supporting the disadvantaged and peace is related to improving understanding between people. Healthcare was the most demanding area because the disadvantaged are not always looked after. So in terms of technology I worked on computer vision, artificial intelligence and human-computer interaction, whereas in terms of social models I looked into language and behaviour,” he explained.
The eyes of the PaPeRo are cameras that record content on request. The most significant function of this is that it can live stream videos to a registered mobile number. Thus, helping family members keep an eye on their loved ones.
However, it doesn’t look like a human, said Khosla. “I didn’t want it to look like a human because the human species had evolved over the years and there is no way that a machine can match it. But I have put the human emotion into the machine, which means that this small robot can understand what emotions signify and thus, they react to it appropriately,” he added.
There are three ways of interacting with PaPeRos - verbally, through tablets and facial expressions. Khosla elaborated, “A PaPeRo can read your face. So, if you are sad, it will ask you why you are sad and probably entertain you with a quiz, games, jokes or your favourite music. It can also read out a story for you with appropriate voice modulation and expressions. If connected to the WiFi, it can also get your information from your Facebook profile or email a friend.”
Khosla feels that the trend of these companion robots is in initial stage. “Technology is all pervasive in our lives. It has created an emotional disconnect. But this robot uses technology more productively. In the next 10 years I think there would be a rapid adoption of these robots because people want more interaction. These robots provide services in a human-like manner and improve the quality of life,” he summed up.