The more you age, the chances are higher that some of your mates have already kicked the bucket – leaving you and the rest of the gang to carry the torch. The thing is, you might end up being the last person alive amongst your friends, and the rest of your family members do not have the time to keep you company. Apart from joining up in a community club or some other social activities, how about having a robot companion? This is what Hector, the result of the successful CompanionAble project after four years of careful research and development was poured into it (and €7.8 million received in funding from the EU Seventh Framework Programme), is all about. This collaborative effort saw 18 organizations from France, Austria, Germany, Spain, Belgium, England, and the Netherlands come together, where Hector’s target demographic would be elderly folks with mild cognitive impairments.
Hector will interact with people using not only verbal commands, but also a touch screen interface. Hector does not just help you out during the lonelier times, but it can also tote around small objects such as keys – but basically it will function as a personal organizer so that you will never ever miss another round of your meds again. No idea on commercial availability and pricing, but it should not come cheap at all.
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