Robot companion carries shopping for the elderly
Technology
Robot companion carries shopping for the elderly
(Reuters) - A new kind of robot that will follow you around the shops, carry your groceries and even act as a seat if you need a break, is undergoing assessment in the UK. Francesca Lynagh reports.
Do you dread carrying around heavy grocery bags?
Say hello to Gita - a robot shopping companion that’s on hand to carry the bags for you.
It s currently undergoing assessment in the UK.
And developers hope it will make life easier for the elderly shoppers.
(Professor Nic Palmarini) "Gita is a first of a kind, a carrying following robot."
Gita – meaning ‘short trip’ in Italian – is developed by robotics company Piaggio Fast Forward…
and is being tested in Newcastle by the UK s National Innovation Centre for Ageing, where Professor Nic Palmarini is director.
"I think following is the key word here because it s a robot that instead of something you step on, or a vehicle that you step on, it s literally just following you and it does it very well. It uses one of the most advanced technology but its purpose is just to basically help you to walk more, help walk free from goods because you can carry goods inside Gita. And the purpose is just to help people to walk more and take advantage of innovation in our daily things, just like walking through towns."
The robot is able to follow its companion using recognition technology via on-board cameras.
It’s capable of carrying nearly 40 lbs of cargo in a lockable storage hold…
and even act as a seat, according to Carol who is helping evaluate the technology.
"Well, it would be great to have something to carry your shopping, have your hands free, particularly if it s a bad day and you re dealing with an umbrella and your phone and your purse and things, and somewhere to store it safely, your stuff. And handy to have something to sit on if you ve had enough or you want to sit down when you re shopping."
For the cost of $2,950 or $103 per month, Gita may well take the heavy strain out of shopping for the less able…
But NICA says the robot actually encourages more movement overall.
"One good rule of longevity, of living healthier, longer life is just to walk. We should have to take at least 10,000 steps a day so why instead of keep on generating objects and devices on top of which we sit and they bring us somewhere? Why don t we empower ourselves to walk more? And that s what we think is very interesting as a different approach to leverage the most innovative technology, machine learning and robots, to allow people to walk more."
