The
Homie system consists of four parts. Homie itself, a dogbed,
a console (which is connected to the television) and a bracelet.
The dogbed represents the distributing center. It sends information
for visualization to the console. Furthermore, it stores all
data, which is received from the bracelet, Homie, friends and
doctors.
Elderly people directly interact with the artificial dog.
The bracelet sends emergency calls to doctors when necessary.
Emotions:
Our
intention is
- to awake emotions
- to make Homie a friend with its own
emotions
A
voice gives the dog its own personality
To accomplish these emotions Homie can move its ears, eyebrows,
mouth and tongue, head, arms, legs and tail
Mainly
positive emotions are used, because they give a sense of pleasure
Notification:
Whenever
Homie receives a message, its nose begins to glow to gain your
attention
After you press the nose, it tells you which kind of message
it is
It can read out the message and/or view it on television
All messages are stored and can be viewed again later on
Heart
Beat:
To
awake feelings of warmness and safety and to counteract loneliness
Homie has a cosy fur and a beating heart
If Homie gets hugged, you can feel its heart beat
Homie reacts to elderly people (for example it raises an
ear if they talk with it)
The dog can be crawled or petted
Recharge:
If
Homie´s battery level is low, it gets floppy ears
Use of
inductive charging which is easier to handle for elderly people
If Homie
wears the necklace, it also gets recharged
After
Homie is fully recharged it makes a happy face
We use
emotions here to represent the power status of the companion
Visualization:
Almost
all elderly people have a television at home
We use television to visualize various things
- a diary
- text and MMS messages
- a quiz
Elderly people can browse through messages like a book.
- each page shows shortened
versions of five messages
- saying the number of a message
opens a detail view of the message
Health
Care:
Homie´s
necklace can be worn as a bracelet.
This
bracelet measures pulse rate continuously and blood pressure
in case of an emergency or if elderly people want to know
the value.
Important
medical information about the owner can be stored
In case
of an emergency the system
- locates the owner via GPS and
- sends an emergency call with
position and medical information
Remote
Control:
Television
is one of the favorite pastimes of elderly people
Homie can be used as a remote control for the television
You can tell it to switch
- to the next or previous
channel or
- the number of a channel
While giving commands you have to hold one of its paws
- physical contact is raised
- it ignores commands in a
conversation not meant for it
Pill
Dispenser:
A
pill dispenser is integrated in the dogs´s stomach
Opens
automatically on times which are specified by its owner
Additionally
these times are transferred to the bracelet. This assures
that the person receives a reminder even not at home
When elderly
people leave their home Homie asks them if they want to take
the pills with them
Homie
reminds the person to refill the box for the next day
