Project TEVE:
Easing the shopping for the elderly
[one week project]
We designed the first community-used robot concept to create an inclusive shopping experience.
Human-Robot
Interaction Course
My peers and I were lucky enough to participate in a week-long bootcamp held by former Boston Dynamics Human-Robot Interactions expert David Yann Robert and pick up some of his knowledge.
Problem
Hungary has an aging population with roughly 21% of citizens over the age of 65 with varied health states.
Day-to-day shopping presents a significant challenge for them: Lifting and carrying heavy grocery bags, or depending on others to do so.
Solution
We came up with a community robot companion which not only scans every item you put inside of it during shopping, but carries the groceries to your kitchen.
Its handlebars are there to support you all along the journey.
High payload, to carry all kinds of groceries, with a lifting basket.
Bumpers, tail- and headlights for navigating traffic.
A quadruped, transforming based on terrain.
A mode shifter which also acts as an emergency stop button for safety.
Context
Because the environment we designed for was already noisy and overly stimulating we had to come up with a new way of communicating with the robot. It doesn't talk, beeps, or honks.
Non-verbal communication, states
Active
Paused
Item removed
On the way
The interface consists of the shifter knob/pause button and a screen, which could present sale items.
User journey
Feedback we received from potential users
"It would be nice to have a screen tell me which items are on sale."
"How would it open doors?"
"Could these be used freely by the community?"
Which got us thinking...
How would the robot look like if the robots use wasn't restricted to shopping use?
