Iggy the Robot is engaging and entertaining residents
Residents from Bancroft’s Flicker program have found a new friend in Iggy, a humanoid robot developed by St. Joseph’s University researchers. Iggy is powered by AI and designed to support those with disabilities and their caregivers by helping provide entertainment, education, information and general assistance.
The partnership was showcased at a demonstration at St. Joseph’s Haub Innovation Center. The work is part of an ongoing study aimed at using artificial intelligence to create robotic aids for people with cognitive and physical disabilities.
Iggy has advanced capabilities including: numerous cameras, microphones allowing him to detect and react to sound, and tactile sensors on the fingers. He moves remarkably human ways.
“Iggy has so many possibilities,” says Dr. Karen Lindgren, Bancroft Chief Clinical Officer. “I’m amazed by how lifelike it is and how those we support have been able to easily engage with it. I’m truly looking forward to a future partnership with St. Joe’s that is steeped in the endless possibilities of technology to support those with disabilities.”
Marcello Balduccini, PhD, director of the Haub Innovation Center and Sara Girotto, PhD, adjunct professor of psychology who have led the project agree with the possibility robots like Iggy hold in terms of caring for those with autism and intellectual and developmental disabilities. The vision is that Iggy is one part of an ecosystem that can not only engage, but recognize and respond to needs, hold data on individual care plans and assist residential care teams with tasks.
“Working with Bancroft we are able to explore the ways in which Iggy is able to help those with disabilities,” says Dr. Balduccini.
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