Don’t send me to a nursing home? Does that sound like something you’ve heard- or maybe said yourself?

It’s one of the reasons why having a multilevel house is not the smartest things for those of us over 55- and want to stay in our homes. Oh, sure, I have a few friends who installed elevators. But, that cost was pretty pronounced (not to mention what happened to a lot of their floor plan.)

And, as I’ve written before, that Ellie and I planned to have a service to help seniors age in place. Except she elected to age in place in Oregon- and I wasn’t joining her (or her soon-to-be new husband) in that locale.

Over the years other technology approaches have come (and many have gone) as you can see by checking the link above. After all, some 90% of seniors have a strong desire to age in place- in their own homes.  That makes the market potential pretty strong.  (It doesn’t hurt that 1/2 the women over the age of 75 live alone, either.)

Which is why there’s now yet a new entrant- this one from Israel.

Intuition Robotics is perfecting their virtual assistant for the elderly. And, this virtual assistant is not like the ones many of my clients employ to help them in their solopreneurial ventures. Nope. This VA is really virtual- residing solely in the cloud.

Elli-Q (the name of the device, no relation to either Ellie or I- or our venture) attempts to engage seniors, not just by answering their questions- but by cajoling them to attempt behaviors and activities that will enhance their lives. And, keep them engaged with other humans.

Of course, the seniors have to share their goals with Elli-Q- or she can’t really help them. So, those that have an Elli-Q will be walking more, exercising their bodies, maybe even watching instructional videos. (Users will choose among 7 goals that the Elli-Q offers, such as learning something new, becoming more active, speaking to the kids, etc.)

Elli-Q will also figure out what its owner’s sleep pattern is. What TV programs they enjoy. (Now, here’s what scares me- it’ll be storing this information- to share with…who the hell knows? Or, what happens if ElliQ decides that we don’t deserve any TV viewing unless we’ve taken that 2 mile hike?)

But, that’s not all- it will be monitoring its owner’s movements, living patterns, etc. So, when it suggests a walk, it will know if the owner is a morning or evening person.

Guess what? Intuition Robotics is looking for some folks willing to be under Elli-Q’s spell- um, I mean willing to test it in the US… Click here is you want to be among them.

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