AUSTRALIA | Most humanoid robots are built to show us what they can do. How well they walk, what they can pick up, how fast they can work and whether they can perform jobs previously done by people.
Abi has been designed around a rather different question. Will people actually want her in the room?
Australian aged care provider mecwacare has now permanently deployed 22 Abi companion robots across its residential aged care homes in Victoria, supporting more than 1,500 residents. The programme started with trials before being expanded across the group.
Look at Abi alongside many of the humanoid robots currently being developed and the difference is immediate. She is colourful, friendly and deliberately fun.
Some of the humanoid machines being demonstrated around the world look more suited to a factory floor or army manoeuvres than an aged care home. Grey metal, dark finishes and an industrial appearance may make sense when the job is moving boxes, but it is a very different proposition when the robot is approaching someone sitting in their room or joining a group activity.
Andromeda Robotics founder and CEO Grace Brown has questioned that approach herself, describing many humanoid robots as militant and intimidating and arguing that considerably more attention needs to be given to how people feel about sharing a space with them.
That thinking is visible in Abi.
The bright colours and playful personality make her look less like another piece of clinical equipment. In aged care, where residents can already be surrounded by mobility equipment, monitoring devices and medical technology, there is something to be said for technology that does not immediately announce itself as healthcare equipment.
Abi has been designed for conversation and companionship rather than physical care. At mecwacare she can sing, dance, tell stories, join activities and speak in up to 90 languages. The latest Genesis Abi was co-developed with mecwacare and includes improved listening and multilingual capability, autonomous movement and features intended to better support interaction with people living with dementia.
One of the stories Andromeda has shared from the rollout involved a resident who had spoken very little for months but read Chinese poetry aloud to Abi. Other residents have reportedly used Abi to communicate in their first language, sometimes in languages not spoken by staff.
Those individual moments make good stories, but the larger rollout should eventually tell us something more useful. mecwacare has reported residents becoming more engaged and social, while staff have incorporated Abi into activities and everyday life within the homes. Those observations are encouraging, although they are still provider and supplier reports rather than long-term independent evidence of improved resident outcomes.
For operators looking at this type of technology, what happens after the novelty has gone will be worth following.
Do residents still seek Abi out six months or a year later? Are there residents who engage with her who rarely participate in other activities? How much staff time does it take to make the technology work well? And does a robot designed with colour, personality and a little bit of fun have an advantage simply because residents are happy to have her around?
Twenty-two homes and more than 1,500 residents should give mecwacare and Andromeda plenty of opportunity to find out.
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