Fabrice Goffin and Tommy Deblieck, two inveterate Star Wars fans, are behind Zorabots, a Belgian company that sells humanoid robots. And faced with the health crisis, the founders decided to lend their toys to fight against isolation. The James model that was distributed is a small robot. Normally, he walks around the stores. He can go from point A to point B, recognize faces, play an audio file or make video calls.
"We have James in stock," explains Raphael Tassart, the press relations manager for Zorabots. Very clearly, it is not now that we are going to do business and sell robots in stores or companies, so as far as these robots are useful for something. "
Zorabots' teams have reprogrammed the robot software in order to keep only the application that allows you to make video calls. "We will forget all the other options," explains Raphael Tassart. One way to facilitate the use of the robot.
A small robot with great assets
Among the advantages, James makes it possible to maintain an essential social contact, according to Raphael Tassart. "We are going to use James to create a window to the outside," he explained. But it is also a question of ensuring the monitoring of health rules. The robot has a significant advantage. "We can put the robot in the room, leave the room and speak through the robot to see if everything is fine," continued Raphael Tassart. He goes from room to room without transporting the viruses since he maintains social distance. And above all, no contact is necessary to order it: "It is completely manipulated by voice, like a Google Home or an Alexia".
And this little robot seems to have won the favor of the residents. "With a robot, sometimes the judgment, the fear, the apprehension that you have is no longer the same, it can free speech and that is what is happening, very well", continues Raphael Tassart.
70 James sent to retirement homes
Links and discussions that must be pushed outside this exceptional health crisis for the Zorabots teams. "We are not trying to advertise with this action, we want to promote technology as a solution," explains the press relations officer. We know that deconfinement will take time, we think that after there is a real need for the elderly to continue to have a window on the outside, this is something that is part of the long term. "
The company first chose to empty its own stocks. Seventy little James have already been sent to retirement homes and hundreds more are expected to arrive from China. Distributors were also asked to follow the initiative by making their stocks available.
Our file on containment
To go further and anticipate the period of deconfinement, some will be able to remind you of the rules of hygiene, encourage you to wash your hands if you have not done it for a long time for example. Some humanoids may or may not detect the wearing of a mask. Or take the temperature of two hundred people in one minute using an infrared camera.
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