Pepper the robot steals the show at NASHiCS conference

Professor Praminda Caleb-Solly provided a fascinating insight into research being carried out into assistive technology at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL) during the two-day bi-annual event in Daventry.

Praminda took to the floor with Pepper, the world’s first social humanoid robot able to recognise faces and basic human emotions.

Designed by SoftBank Robotics, the 4 foot tall robot is able to hold conversations, give medication prompts and reminders, dance and provide entertainment, and supervise and guide activities such as exercise programmes and simple household tasks.

BRL’s ultimate aim is to help facilitate an assistive technology ecosystem able to support people’s needs by integrating with care planning and emedication systems as well as entertainment apps.

Retailing at around £18,000 each, the Pepper robot has been being trialled in a partnership between BRL and the Extra Care Charitable Trust, as well as in a separate project at Advinia Healthcare and TLC Care.

“We are trying to see how we can support carers to be more effective and efficient and take away some of the more mundane tasks and free up more face to face time with residents,” Praminda told delegates.