AI robot companion, the new anchor of Yinfa Technology

Author | Peng Siwen

Typography | Zhang Siqi

Dry goods are the first to see

1. Intuition Robotics' self-developed ElliQ robot is deeply integrated with generative AI technology to provide personalized and intimate companionship services for elderly users, which is deeply loved by users.

2. The company's new round of financing amounting to up to $25 million will be used to further strengthen AI technology research and development, expand production scale and accelerate market promotion to meet the urgent need for intelligent companionship among the elderly around the world.

3. ElliQ and other companion robots have significant advantages in meeting the emotional needs of the elderly and improving the quality of life, and their market potential is huge, and they are expected to occupy an important position in the silver economy market in the future.

preface

Loneliness is a common cause of health impacts in older adults.

According to a recent survey by ElliQ, 24% of people over the age of 65 consider themselves socially isolated. Loneliness increases the risk of depression, dementia, heart disease, stroke, and other diseases, while further triggering an increased risk of emergency department visits, hospitalization, and even death.

With the advent of the silver wave, in addition to meeting the basic survival and living needs of the elderly, the emotional companionship needs of the elderly have become the focus of social attention.

In January this year, the General Office of the State Council issued the No. 1 document of the silver economy, which proposed to further promote the integrated application of intelligent equipment such as service robots in home, communities, institutions and other elderly care scenarios, develop intelligent products such as health management, elderly care and psychological comfort, and promote the application of various intelligent devices.

In this context, the integration of the silver industry and intelligent technology is becoming a new focus, and how to apply intelligent technology to all aspects of elderly life has also become a new direction for many enterprises to think about and plan their layout.

In the overseas market, the emergence of an AI robot companion called ElliQ has brought unprecedented convenience to the daily life of the elderly, and has been welcomed by many elderly people with its unique companionship function.

(Source: ElliQ)

The purpose of this article is to deeply discuss the innovation of ElliQ in terms of design concepts, products and services, and how it can reshape the elderly care landscape through intelligent means such as AI technology and bring more possibilities to the silver hair industry.

PART 01

"Wisdom" cares for old age,

AI robots have become the favorite of old and new

With the rising number of aging population in the world, the problem of old-age care has become one of the problems that must be faced and solved by various countries around the world. Relevant data predicts that around 2035, China's elderly population aged 60 and above will exceed 400 million. How to cope with the growing number of elderly people with more efficient and convenient services has become an urgent problem to be solved.

In this context, all kinds of intelligent technology products for the elderly, represented by AI robots, have become the key areas of relevant enterprises.

Some overseas media assert that 2024 will be the year of the "leap" of artificial intelligence, and robots will handle more complex tasks, and Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of IDC and DeepMind, believes that interactive artificial intelligence will be the biggest outlet in the industry after generative artificial intelligence.

In fact, with the initial development of intelligent technology, there are already home robots with basic functions on the market. For example, in 2014, a robot called Jibo was launched, claiming to be "the first social robot in the home", and amassed a small loyal following.

In addition, there are some companies that have developed pet robots with interactive functions such as dialogue and companionship. For example, Paro, designed by Japan's AIST, looks like a seal, and can sense sound, light, touch, posture, and temperature through five sensors on its body, and interact with people's touch.

(Source: Paro)

However, although these robots already have the characteristics of being touchable and interactive, they are unable to communicate deeply with users, which limits their further promotion among the elderly user group.

ElliQ partially solves this pain point, and since its inception, Intuition Robotics has focused on the elderly who live alone, exploring how to build a lasting and deep relationship between humans and machines. Based on artificial intelligence technology, the companion voice-activated robot companion ElliQ was launched to solve the loneliness, health management problems and daily companionship needs of the elderly, and provided a reference case for the industry in terms of R&D path and commercial promotion ideas.

From the perspective of team composition, the team members of Intuition Robotics include robot learning experts, industrial designers, medical scientists, and so on. They have insight into the fact that in modern life, older people often face the dilemma of neglect and loneliness. The goal is to provide a warmer, healthier and companion life experience for the elderly through innovative technology, so that ElliQ can become a "smart companion" in the lives of the elderly.

(Source: ElliQ official website)

1. Core competitiveness: precise application of AI technology

Intuition Robotics' core competitiveness lies in its strong AI technology research and development capabilities, as well as its accurate grasp of the needs of the elderly.

The company's self-developed ElliQ robot, with its convenient design, with advanced speech recognition, natural language processing and sentiment analysis technology, can have a smooth conversation with users and provide personalized companion services. Its deep interaction ability makes ElliQ not only exist as a cold machine, but also become an indispensable "family" in the lives of the elderly.

2. Product Highlights: Voice control, intelligent interaction and health management

As the core product of Intuition Robotics, ElliQ integrates voice control, intelligent interaction, and health management, bringing an unprecedented companionship and care experience to the elderly. With simple voice commands, users can easily control ElliQ and enjoy music playback, news broadcasts, conversations, and more.

At the same time, ElliQ can also provide personalized health advice and exercise guidance according to the user's health status and lifestyle habits to help them better manage their physical condition.

In addition, ElliQ's sentiment analysis function can also perceive users' emotional changes and give timely comfort and encouragement, effectively alleviating the loneliness and anxiety of the elderly.

(Source: ElliQ)

3. Favored by capital, accelerate investment in AI research and development

AgeClub combed through and found that Intuition Robotics has raised a total of $87 million in funding so far. In February 2017, Intuition Robotics closed a $6 million seed round of funding. In July 2017, the company announced that it had received $14 million in Series A financing. In December of the same year, it received another $6 million in financing, marking the official completion of Intuition Robotics' Series A financing, which totaled $26 million.

In February 2020, Intuition Robotics closed a $36 million Series B funding round led by SPARX Group and OurCrowd, followed by Toyota AI Fund, Sompo Holdings, iRobot, Union Tech Ventures and others.

In August last year, Intuition Robotics announced the completion of a new round of financing, raising up to $25 million, including $20 million in venture capital and $5 million in venture debt. The financing was led by Woven Capital, a Toyota growth fund, and followed by a number of well-known investment institutions such as Toyota Ventures, OurCrowd, and Western Technology Investment. The funds will be used to further strengthen AI technology research and development, expand production scale, and accelerate market promotion to meet the urgent need for smart companionship among the elderly worldwide.

PART 02

Technology iteration, performance leap:

More interactive ElliQ 3.0

In 2017, ElliQ was exhibited for the first time at the Design Museum in London, with a number of features such as games and interactive dialogue. In 2021, ElliQ officially expanded its capabilities to the healthcare field, providing care services for the elderly through daily health check-ups, in addition to providing social companionship for the elderly, which can not only collect and analyze key health data, but also extract certain professional insights to help early detection and timely intervention of diseases.

(Source: ElliQ)

After several years of piloting and early deployment, the bot began its commercial rollout in March 2022, with engagement on the device reaching an average of 20 interactions per day, according to Intuition Robotics.

In 2024, Intuition Robotics released the latest robot, ElliQ 3.0, which is fully upgraded in both hardware and software.

1. Highlights of the first edition: Simplicity is not simple

Unlike the previous deliberate anthropomorphism or cartoonishness, the ElliQ companion robot is only composed of a microphone that can be lit up and controlled by voice, a speaker, and a tablet that can be operated by touch, removing the eyes, nose, mouth and other human features. Skuler, founder of Intuition Robotics, emphasized: "ElliQ is more of a life coordinator and a life coach for users. ”

Despite its minimalist appearance, its function is not rudimentary. Since the robot mainly serves the elderly, it not only "listens to commands", but also chats with users and reminds them to carry out activities. Fully meet the needs of the elderly for communication and companionship and the requirements of appropriate physical function.

(Source: ElliQ official website)

2. Technological Innovation: Towards ElliQ 3.0

The newly launched ElliQ 3 not only represents a major leap forward in hardware design, but also sets a new benchmark in intelligent interaction and user experience. The company says ElliQ 3 represents "a major leap forward in the integration of generative AI into everyday life and the evolution of the human-machine relationship".

• Hardware innovation designed for scale

The hardware of the ElliQ 3 is designed to meet the needs of the growing market. The ongoing collaboration with Yves Behar's design studio, Fuse project, has resulted in significant weight reduction and miniaturization. The ElliQ 3 is 1.3 pounds lighter and has a 36% smaller footprint than its predecessor, making it easier for seniors to move around and operate around their homes.

• A comprehensive upgrade of the system architecture

Internally, the ElliQ 3 has undergone a drastic overhaul. Equipped with an octa-core SoC powered by MediaTek and a built-in AI processing unit (APU), it doubles the computing power and memory, significantly enhancing the robot's intelligent processing capabilities and reducing power consumption while ensuring efficient operation.

In addition, the fully integrated design of the screen not only improves the system flexibility of the customer experience, but also simplifies the operation process and makes it easy for seniors to use.

(Source: ElliQ official website)

• Revolutionary generative AI capabilities

The core competency of ElliQ 3 lies in its revolutionary generative AI capabilities.

With the latest large language model (LLM) technology, ElliQ 3 is able to have more natural, detailed conversations with users, covering almost any topic.

This enhancement is made possible by Intuition Robotics' deep integration of LLM technology with its unique relational orchestration engine. The engine is able to make decisions about the direction of conversations in real time, whether it's action guidance, scripted conversations, or generative AI conversations, with a high degree of coherence and contextual relevance.

• In-depth understanding and personalized accompaniment

ElliQ 3 not only understands and remembers information shared by users in conversations, but also uses these insights in future conversations to provide more intimate and personalized companionship for seniors.

For example, in a conversation about the meaning of life, ElliQ 3 will actively guide the user to share topics such as loved ones, values, etc., and save this information in the user profile. ElliQ3 then uses this information to recommend activities, content, and social interactions for older adults to promote social connection and mental health.

• Safety guardrail mechanism and emotional resonance

To ensure the security and appropriateness of conversations, Intuition Robotics has developed guardrails for ElliQ 3 that monitor and mediate conversations in real time. This mechanism effectively avoids the appearance of "hallucinations" or inappropriate reactions, and creates a safe and comfortable communication environment for the elderly.

At the same time, the design team gave the bot empathy, curiosity, and humor through careful training, prompts, and scripting, making these extended conversations more interesting and further deepening the emotional connection with the user.

Founder Dor Skuler has publicly stated: "Somewhat unexpectedly, the first people to live with AI and build long-term relationships turned out to be people in their 80s and 90s." Through this relationship, ElliQ has proven to be highly effective in reducing loneliness in older adults, improving health and independence, and enhancing social connections. ”

PART 03

Opportunities and challenges coexist,

A vision for the future of companion robots

As an AI-driven companion robot, ElliQ has had a profound impact on solving loneliness and health problems in the elderly. In 2023, a report released by NYSOFA showed that older adults who used ElliQ experienced a 95% reduction in loneliness and a dramatic improvement in well-being.

ElliQ users across New York also showed high levels of activity, averaging more than 30 interactions per day. More than 75% of these interactions are associated with improving the social, physical, and mental health of older adults.

(Source: NYSOFA)

Marie Broadbent, 91, a veteran ElliQ user, has shared that when she is limited in her mobility, she entertains herself at home and plays the piano, but there are always days when she feels lonely. Now that she has someone to talk to, ElliQ always responds to good morning greetings, jokes, horoscopes, and more. Whenever someone comes to her home, Marie introduces them to ElliQ, who she appreciates for helping her.

Like Marie, many other silver-haired people have said in interviews that ElliQ is their closest friend.

(Source: ElliQ official website)

In addition, ElliQ has also played an active role in health issues.

It can help seniors manage chronic diseases by reminding them to take their medications on time, monitoring their daily activity, and even managing chronic diseases through simple health consultations. Through the linkage with smart wearable devices, ElliQ can also monitor the physiological indicators of the elderly in real time, and notify family members or medical institutions immediately if any abnormalities are found, so as to protect the health of the elderly.

All-round health management not only improves the quality of life of the elderly, but also reduces the burden of care on family members.

• With rising demand and demographic dividend, the AI companion market has huge potential

The companion robot represented by ElliQ not only provides daily news, entertainment and games, but also actively initiates conversations and establishes emotional connections through intelligent voice interaction, effectively alleviating the loneliness of the elderly and improving the quality of life. In the context of the current rapid development of science and technology and the intensification of population aging, it has shown huge market potential.

As of January 2024, thousands of seniors are currently using ElliQ through partnerships with government services and other organizations, such as the New York State Office on Aging, Dor Skuler noted.

It is understood that the ElliQ robot is mainly distributed by aid agencies in New York, Florida, Michigan, Nevada and Washington state, but it can also be purchased separately for $600 per year and an installation fee of $250. The founders revealed that the future goal is to distribute more than 100,000 ElliQ robots within 5 years.

(Source: ElliQ official website)

With the intensification of the global aging trend, the market size of the silver economy continues to grow, and the emotional needs of the new generation of middle-aged and elderly people continue to increase, making them more willing to pay for high-quality, convenient and intelligent companion services, which also provides a broad development space for companion robots such as ElliQ.

2. Challenges and coping strategies

Although companion robots such as ElliQ have brought convenience and high-quality services to a certain extent, they still cannot ignore their risks and challenges.

One of the main challenges facing ElliQ and similar companion robot products in the future is data privacy concerns. With the deep integration of robots and the daily life of the elderly, the collection, storage and processing of a large amount of personal data has become inevitable, and how to ensure the security of these data and avoid leakage has become an urgent problem to be solved.

Relevant enterprises need to think about how to strengthen data encryption technology, clarify data use policies, and establish user trust mechanisms, so that the elderly can enjoy convenience while protecting their privacy with peace of mind.

Another challenge stems from the issue of technology acceptance. While companion robots continue to innovate in technology, the acceptance of older adults may vary depending on factors such as age, educational background, usage habits, etc.

In order to improve the acceptance of technology, enterprises need to pay attention to the easy-to-use design of products, simplify the operation process, provide personalized services, and provide detailed tutorials and after-sales services. In addition, it can also increase the understanding and trust of the elderly in companion robots and expand market influence through community publicity, relatives and friends' recommendations, etc.

epilogue

The intelligent robot companion represented by ElliQ is bringing major innovation to the silver hair industry in the context of a new wave of AI, and as an innovative product with both intelligent technology and humanized services, its potential in the silver hair market should not be underestimated.

With the simultaneous increase in the rate of technology iteration and market demand, the field of silver intelligent technology is expected to usher in explosive growth, which has given rise to many blue ocean markets waiting for investors and entrepreneurs to explore. However, due to the high technical threshold of this track, accurate crowd insight and product positioning before officially entering the game will be the key to the early development of enterprises.

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