Project Highlights
Personal Avatar for Life
As the pandemic swept across the world and social distancing was introduced, feelings of loneliness have become an issue, Prof. dr. dr. Johan F. Hoorn (D. Litt., D. Sc.) believes there is a market gap to be filled by social robots.
The outbreak of COVID-19 has accelerated the adoption of robots. In Europe, clean and disinfected robots have been deployed to detect people who are not wearing masks. In China, robots have been sent to hospital to measure patients’ temperature. As the pandemic swept across the world and social distancing was introduced, feelings of loneliness have become an issue for which social robots may provide a solution. Prof. dr. dr. Johan F. Hoorn (D. Litt., D. Sc.) believes there is a market gap to be filled by this kind of avatar.
Prof. Hoorn initiated the research project “Negative-mood Reduction among HK Youth with Robot PAL (Personal Avatar for Life)” to develop companion robots for conversation based on a robot infrastructure that handles user data securely. The Robot Brain Server employs AI to analyse user data and respond appropriately. For long-term self-disclosure, however, user trust is crucial. To create a safe environment, the Brain Server should be placed in the user’s home, and disconnected from the Internet and Cloud to avoid prying and spying. Graded access controlled by the user may allow the robot to access online resources.
Prof. Hoorn and his research team have won the Huibregtsen Prize 2020 for their robotics research project “Alice”, a robot girl who helps older adults feel less lonely. In building on the previous success of Alice, Prof. Hoorn is taking Alice's AI platform to the next level with a new AI robot designed for youth care in development for this project.
“Robots can have many design features that are highly appreciated. They do not go behind your back, they do not look down upon you, they are endlessly patient and more importantly, they do not judge. For youth, this is particularly important. It’s not about replacing a real person by a machine but rather about offering more options to really lonely people” says Prof. Hoorn.
