ABSTRACT
Companion bots such as chatbots in cyberspace or robots in real space gained popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic as a means of comforting humans and reducing their loneliness. These bots can also help enhance the lives of elderly people. In this paper, we present how to design and implement a quick prototype of companion bots for elderly people. A companion bot named "Hello Steve"that is able to send emails, open YouTube to provide entertainment, and remember the times an elderly person must take medicine and remind them is designed and implemented as a quick prototype. In addition, the bot combines the features of a mobile robot and a chatbot. The experimental results show the effectiveness of the design through its very high accuracy when navigating mobile-robot-like tasks and responding to chatbot-like tasks via voice commands. © 2023 MYU K.K.
ABSTRACT
There has been a new scientific policy that has been proposed in Japan that is named Society 5.0. This type of society is defined as "a human-centered society that balances economic advancement with the resolution of social problems by a system that highly integrates cyberspace and physical space". For the past couple of years, educational institutions have been using online video conferences for remote learning due to the coronavirus pandemic. This type of learning has some benefits such as convenience and flexibility. However, conversely, it is more isolating and discomforting for some. Additionally, remote online learning has been proposed to be the future of education, which might be disappointing to some students. Development in the metaverse and its hardware might be the solution for a better learning experience. This technology is also aligned with Society 5.0 as cyberspace will integrate more closely with physical space. The student would be able to feel as if they were in an actual classroom using the metaverse, which can be accessed by 3D Virtual World Applications. They would be able to see their peers and hear more of their peers to feel less isolated. © 2022 IEEE.