ElliQ, an AI-Driven Social Robot to Alleviate Loneliness: Progress and Lessons Learned

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Artificial Intelligence

Background:

• Loneliness is a prevalent issue among older adults.
• It significantly elevates the risk of morbidity and mortality in this demographic.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce ElliQ, a proactive, AI-driven social robot.
• To highlight its design for addressing loneliness and providing social and health coaching to older adults.

Main Methods:

• ElliQ is a consumer robot featuring voice, sound, light, and touchscreen interactions.
• It offers conversation, music, video calls, well-being assessments, stress reduction, cognitive games, and health reminders.
• The robot was deployed across 15 US government agencies.

Main Results:

• Initial deployment indicates ElliQ is highly engaging for older adults.
• The robot shows potential for improving quality of life and reducing loneliness.
• A weekly reporting feature for clinician integration was developed.

Conclusions:

• This paper details the development and real-world implementation of ElliQ.
• It discusses challenges faced and outlines future directions for the technology.