From customer service bots to home security surveillance and even food delivery, artificial intelligence is increasingly an integral part of people’s daily lives. For Israel-based startup Intuition Robotics, however, there is an even more important area where A.I. could be of use: caring for the elderly. Intuition Robotics, which was founded in 2015 and came out of stealth this week, has the ambitious goal of “developing social companion technology to positively impact the lives of millions of older adults.”
The company just introduced ElliQ, an artificial intelligence-enabled robot that is able to communicate much like a human being and express its emotions using a combination of sounds, light, and voice. Like other A.I. assistants, including Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri, ElliQ gets smarter over time by continuously learning about users’ needs and behaviors. Connected with a variety of entertainment, fitness, and communications technologies, ElliQ is also able to carry out tasks like suggesting music or podcasts or reminding its owner to take a walk after sitting on a couch for a prolonged period of time.
While designers of most robots aim to make them resemble human beings in terms of physical appearance and body language, Intuition Robotics’ ElliQ robot functions less like a robot and more like a virtual personal assistant like Amazon’s Alexa. “Our goal is to leverage a combination of our proprietary technology, emotive interaction models, and gerontology insights with elegant design to empower older adults to intuitively interact with technology and easily connect with content and loved ones and pursue an active lifestyle,” explained Dor Skuler, CEO and founder of Intuition Robotics, in a company statement.
According to VentureBeat, Intuition Robotics will be conducting trial tests for adults living in the San Francisco Bay Area beginning in February. While a retail price for ElliQ has not yet been determined, a spokesperson told VentureBeat that the product will be “as affordable as other sophisticated consumer electronics products.”