Woman speaking on stage with robot

Disney characters, aged care and robots

Technology has improved so much in the past decade. The amount of new things being invented has skyrocketed and things are evolving very quickly, almost too quickly. In some ways that can be a good thing, but after attending a session with Abi the robot at SXSW 2024, I concluded that’s not always the case.

Jessica Djauhari

18 November 2024

2 minute read

Grace Brown, mechatronics engineer and co-founder of Andromeda Robotics, is the creator of Abi, a robot with an altruistic purpose to combat loneliness and enhance social interaction in aged care and health care settings.

Grace's reflection during the pandemic and months of self-isolation, led her to make science fiction a reality. After experiencing loneliness at such an immense scale, she realised that personality and human interaction are core parts of life, which are often missing from the cold world of mechanics. 

So she set herself the task to build something that you wouldn’t stereotypically think a robotics engineer would be influenced by, the magic of characters from Disney and Pixar.

Characters from these movies are carefully crafted to spark emotion. Their bright colours, big expressive eyes and actions create a feeling that captivates the audience, and has us believing that the characters are real with personalities. So why not infuse this perceived personality into robots to help vulnerable people who lack connection, whether they be non-verbal people in aged care or children in hospitals, to fill the void in their lives?

Robot speaking to person

Image from www.dromeda.com.au

Features of Abi the robot

  • She is interactive. From dancing to blowing bubbles, her elements foster physical touch with users.
  • She has the ability to engage in conversations, acting as a companion.
  • She is brightly coloured and has expressive eye movements, bringing personality and emotional depth to her interactions.
  • She can speak 90 different languages, enabling her to connect with people from diverse cultural backgrounds and bridging language barriers.

Is technology with a heart really a good idea?

What if this robot that is built to spark connection actually does the opposite in the wrong hands? Imagine those times parents are too busy to take care of their children. And if this robot is easy to get, what if she's used to accompanying children so that parents can have more time to work?  

Yes, Abi was built to purposely not look like a human so those boundaries aren’t as easily crossed, but children especially can be influenced by some of her ‘optimised anthropomorphism’ like her expressive eyes and humour. Just like the world of AI, surely there's a possibility that this robot might be misused in some ways?

From a healthcare setting point of view, it’s a well known fact that many nursing homes don’t have enough staff to look after people. Using a robot for help to improve quality of life and feelings of isolation in these situations doesn’t sound that bad.

However, Grace mentioned that she is hoping for a future where more people have an Abi around the home like they do pets in homes. Even though it is purely for social interaction and to combat feelings of loneliness, it’s really worrying to think that this could spiral out of control and make robot interactions part of daily lives. Especially with their wishful thinking to lower the price point of Abi to the cost of an iPhone to promote accessibility. 

Would you buy one?

Coloured robot in care home

Image from www.dromeda.com.au

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