smart dolls to keep isolated seniors company while monitoring their health

To enable seniors to continue living at home as long as possible, a South Korean company has developed surveillance dolls. These dolls stuffed with electronics generate interaction and monitor the activity level of “their humans”.

In South Korea as in Japan, much research is devoted to the old age and loneliness of the elderly. Both countries suffer from major labor shortages and it is increasingly difficult to find workers to care for elderly people in retirement homes.

The result is a whole strategy to keep people in their homes for as long as possible and in good conditions. To do this, you must be able to monitor them and detect the slightest problem. Cameras or robots are not always well accepted by the people concerned, so the Korean company Hyodol has just launched a surveillance doll. Softer in appearance, she measures around 40 cm tall and is capable of interacting with their human all day long.

Break loneliness and encourage you to stay active

This doll is available in two versions. A little boy and a little girl. They have the same bowl cut, the same smile, but different colored aprons. These dolls don’t walk, they don’t move their heads, but as soon as you touch them, they start to talk. They can speak five different Korean dialects, depending on the owner’s geographic area.

The Hyodol doll will offer, in her childish voice, stretching or gymnastic exercises to her human. She will also remind him at specific times that he must hydrate, eat or take his medication. When she does not detect any activity from the person, she will ask them to offer them short quizzes to stimulate their memory. She can also play her pieces of music that have been pre-selected to entertain her. The idea is really to break the loneliness of the elderly person and encourage them to remain active as much as possible. If the doll no longer detects any “sound” for several hours during the day, it will alert someone close to the elderly person to call or come and see what is happening.

ChatGPT soon integrated

This doll is already sold by the thousands in South Korea and is starting to be distributed in Japan with a Japanese interface. There are also Chinese and English versions. Each doll costs around 1,700 euros and the designers promise other languages ​​very soon. They are even starting to integrate ChatGPT into their doll, so that it can better understand its human and interact more easily with it.