1. Corey Best
Alyssa Fischer
Kaeleigh Kennedy
Shereen Teymour
Fatima Uddin
Alyssa Young

2. Mental Health
• 20% of individuals
over age 55 have
some type of mental
health concern
(CDC, 2008)
• Of any age
group, men aged
85+ have the highest
suicide rate
Depression
• Is the most prevalent
mental health
concern among
elderly population
• Is NOT a normal part
of getting older and
is treatable in 80% of
the cases

3. The Problem:
• Physical and mental side
affects of loneliness in
the elderly
• Hardening of the
arteries
• High blood pressure
• Depression
• High cortisol levels
• Memory problems
(Gammon, 2012)
Loneliness
• 18% of seniors live alone
and 43% report feeling
lonely on a regular basis
(Botek, 2012)
• Loneliness may lead to
depression and adverse
health consequences

4.  Structure
• Artificial companion,
“man‟s best friend”
• Softer texture, but
accepted as mechanical
 Function
• Mental stimulation:
 therapeutic, conversational,
& emotionally engaging
• Surveys for patient‟s
healthcare provider
• Filling the gap “Buddy”

5. Target Populations
• Elderly individuals who live
alone OR feel isolated living
in a group home
• Primary Health care
providers of elderly patients

6. Benefits to target populations
• Efficient
• Increased communication
• Mental stimulation
• Decreased loneliness
• Entertainment
• Overall increased mental and physical health

7. Hardware
• Sensors
• Audio input & output
• Storage and memory
Software
• Use of applications
Personnel
• Primary care providers
 Training & Education
• On site
 Purchase of Product
• Through Professionals
• Private sector
 Continued
Maintenance

8.  UTOPIA Project
• Facilitates health and
happiness in various ways
 HOMIE
• Able to understand its
owner‟s emotions
 COMPANIONS Project
• Pro-activity
Picture retrieved from: Kriglstein, S. &
Wallner, 2005

9. Barriers of “Buddy”
• Gaining provider acceptance for installation and
distribution
• Costs for creation and for purchase
• Consumer acceptance
• Health conditions that make it difficult for patient
use
• Similarity to existing products may create
competition

10.  Cost for making one
artificial companion
• Voice detection technology:
$8,000
• Training of provider: $1,000
• Touch Sensation technology:
$8,000
• Microphone and speakers:
$5,000
• Applications for survey
conduction: $4,000
• Application using natural
language user interface:
$10,000
• Extra materials: $500
• Total = $36,500
 Total funding needed
• 400 million dollars

11. Goals
• Lower rates of suicide
from depression
• Lower rates of
depression among
elderly who experience
loneliness
Future additions
• Connection of audiobooks to
the artificial companion to
read stories
• Face recognition
• Enhanced provider
integration: to allow delivery
of cognitive therapy
techniques
• Improved user integration:
accommodations for blind or
deaf patients

12.  Evaluation of “Buddy” to ensure goals are met:
• Stage 1 of evaluation: general evaluation of product
acceptance
 Pilot study of 50 users
• Stage 2 of evaluation: achievement of projected goals
 Optional user agreement to share data
gathered from surveys by product
 Improvement of health overall?

13.  Why “Buddy”?
• Hopes of launching our
product/service
• Companionship value,
but also adjunct to
treatment
• Benefits to target
populations, overall
improvement in health
 Development Plan:
• Year One: Audiobooks
• Year Two: Facial
recognition
• Year Three: Enhanced
provider integration

14.  Bickmore, T., Caruso, L., Clough-Gorr, K., & Heeren, T. (2005). „It‟s just like you talk to
a friend‟ relational agents for older adults. Interacting with Computers, 17(6), 711-
735.
 Botek, A. (2012). The elder loneliness epidemic. Retrieved January 23, 2013, from
http://www.agingcare.com/Articles/loneliness-in-the-elderly-151549.htm
 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Association of Chronic
Disease Directors. The State of Mental Health and Aging in America Issue Brief 1:
What Do the Data Tell Us? Atlanta, GA: National Association of Chronic Disease
Directors; 2008.
 Gammon, K. (2012). Why loneliness can be deadly. Retrieved January 23, 2012, from
http://www.livescience.com/18800-loneliness-health-problems.html
 Kidd, C., Lee, C., Lesh, N., Rich, C., & Sidner, C. (2005). Explorations in engagement
for humans and robots. Artificial Intelligence, 166(1), 140-164.
 Kriglstein, S. & Wallner, Gunter. (2005). HOMIE: an artificial companion for elderly
people. CHI ’05 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing, 2094-2098. doi:
10.1145/1056808.1057106
 Mival, O., Cringean, S., & Benyon, D. (2004). Personification technologies: developing
artificial companions for older people. 1-8
http://web.media.mit.edu/~guy/lab/chi04/mival04.pdf
 Peltu, M. & Wilks, Y. (2008). Close engagements with artificial companions: key social,
psychological, ethical, and design issues. Oxford Internet Institute, 14,1-33.