Oslo (AFP)

Widowed, Per Leif Rolid lives alone on his farm, two hours' drive from Oslo. A feeling of isolation accentuated by the Covid-19 pandemic but which the old man manages to break thanks to a simple screen which allows him to be online without any digital skills.

At 87, this Norwegian has never owned a computer, smartphone or tablet. This does not prevent him from receiving messages, photos or video calls from his grandchildren scattered around the world.

The secret? A stripped down screen, retro style, enthroned next to the TV. No keyboard, username or password so easy to forget but a single button that is used both to turn on the device and to adjust the volume as on radio stations of yesteryear.

On the other side, under management, family members, experienced in digital solutions, who take short moments in their daily life to send content to the patriarch via an application.

"I can see them when we talk. I can stay in touch with them, whether they are at home or traveling abroad. I feel like I can be with my family all the time," says the octogenarian.

Modernity and technological revolution have left a whole section of the population, often the oldest, on the floor. According to a study co-produced by the British Red Cross, more than 9 million adults in Britain experience loneliness, including 4 million elderly people. In Norway, 35% of people over 67 live alone.

A feeling of isolation that the coronavirus pandemic is likely to worsen because of the various containment measures or the prohibitions of visit which, everywhere, deprive the seniors of physical contacts.

For psychologist and physiologist Christopher Lien, this additional isolation is "particularly regrettable".

"A large part of the elderly have a weak social network and, if we add weeks of social isolation, it is obvious that for many of them, this network becomes even more tenuous," he explains. he.

"In the worst case, they may have a feeling of disorientation with regard to space and time. Their milestones disappear when they can no longer regroup in their retirement home or receive visits from relatives and friends" , he adds.

- 'Window on the family' -

The health crisis could give a boost to technology groups that are working to create links and build bridges between radically different generations, one analog the other digital.

According to Lian Jye Su, a technology analyst at ABI Research, the Covid-19 is expected to boost the global telepresence robot market by 20 to 35% this year, which could reach $ 400 million.

Founded in 2015, the Norwegian start-up No Isolation offers technological solutions aimed at breaking the isolation of vulnerable groups, sick children and the elderly. Including thanks to Komp, the screen that Per Leif Rolid uses on his farm in Redalen and whose name is supposed to refer to companion, compassion and computer.

"We know this is not something that only happens during a pandemic, but it has cruelly shown that (isolation) affects the most vulnerable first and most severely," said leader Karen Dolva. "Suddenly, families realized that they had to connect these people, put them online."

Komp "becomes like their window on the family in everyday life", she underlines.

After selling 650 last year, the company says it sold 1,500 screens in the last two weeks of March alone. Nearly 2,000 other orders are said to be in the pipeline in Britain and the Nordic countries.

In Oslo, Martine Rolid Leonardsen says she uses it even more diligently to help her grandfather, Per Leif, to keep loneliness in check in these times of health crisis.

"I make sure to send him photos every day," she says.

"It doesn't matter that they are not all fresh, since there is nothing we can do at the moment, but the important thing is to send (photos) a vacation from years ago for him remember how it was before coronavirus. "

© 2020 AFP