Future of Information and Communication Conference 2024

Future of Information and Communication Conference 2024

So, what would you do if you didn’t sleep well and forgot to smile for the photo? All it takes is a little touch of Photoshop magic that people will barely notice.

Aleksei Talisainen participated in Future of Information and Communication conference in Berlin with a presentation on using telepresence robots in our EuroTeQ course.

The presentation was based on the article “Understanding the Potential of Telepresence Robots in Higher Education Learning: A Case Study” published in 2023 and the slides of the presentation can be downloaded from here

Visit to Pihlakodu care home and Tallinn Children's hospital

Visit to Pihlakodu care home and Tallinn Children's hospital

Our research group has established new contacts with Pihlakodu care home chain as well as Tallinn Children’s Hospital. Both institutions are very interested in implementing robot assistants in their daily activities. For example, Pihlakodu is interested in robot assistants helping both to entertain and guide their clients in their daily activities, as well as using telepresence robots for remote access to medical services. Tallinn Children’s Hospital is looking forward to employ a house guide to their ambulatory offices – a friendly robot guide helping children and their parents to find the right rooms as well as to help to reduce stress and create a child-friendly service environment. Together with our research group we are looking for closer collaboration as well as funding opportunities to make these plans a reality.

Telepresence robots for people with disabilities

Telepresence robots for people with disabilities

The Association of Women with Disabilities of Tallinn and Harju County held their yearly meeting at IT College and invited Janika to talk about telepresence robots. She connected remotely from Dusseldorf, Germany, appearing first in an Ohmni, then a Temi. Janika covered both the potential benefits of TPR for people with disabilities (if you cannot get somewhere physically, send a robot) as well as shortcomings (in fact, the problems faced by telepresence users in robots are surprisingly similar to the ones faced by people with disabilities!).

The talk was very well received by the audience and sparked a lively discussion.

ReSTELA project meeting in Genova

ReSTELA project meeting in Genova

Can you imagine your office or a lab located in a 16-th century palace? The employees of Scuola di Robotica do not have to imagine that, because it is exactly the place their school is located, right in the medieval centre of Genova.

ReSTELA (Remote STEM Labs) projects aimed to provide technical means of teaching robotics in places with no robotic labs is reaching its end and we make final preparations and promotion materials on how our telepresence robots help achieve the project goals. So, it is our pleasure to announce that

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Temi guides sTARTUp Day visitors

Temi guides sTARTUp Day visitors

If last year the semi-autonomous robot assistant TEMI showcased its skills in the Ülemiste City Öpik office building, pioneering the “house manager” role, TEMI commenced the year 2024 in a significantly larger and more crowded environment. On January 25th and 26th, sTARTUp Day took place, with TEMI navigating among 4,000 visitors and inviting them to explore the TalTech presentation area. Visitors followed TEMI with interest and were pleasantly surprised upon their arrival to the destination point, where they could communicate through TEMI with a real person located in Madrid.

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Christmas experiment in Ülemiste city

Christmas experiment in Ülemiste city

Our research group decided to conclude this year with a very special celebration by arranging a major event starring Temi as a “house manager” in Ülemiste city Öpik office building.

Spanning the entire day, the experiment aimed to evaluate TEMI’s capabilities as a host. The robot would greet the visitors, process their inquiries and lead the way to the selected location keeping track of the visitor’s movement to ensure the human keeps the pace. In addition to that Temi could initiate a call with the company representative to provide further guidance if required.

As the experiment concluded, participants shared their feedback, reflecting on the comfort and reliability they experienced in their interactions with the robot, and also their perceptions of TEMI as a communication partner.

As opposed to the previous experiments we conducted, this one unfolded in a public space and blended with an everyday life of an office building. Unlike past scenarios confined to simulated environments, this one provided a more authentic setting for assessing TEMI’s practicality.

In parallel to the experiment the Öpik conference center hosted a visionary seminar titled “Communicating Service Robots: Boon or Bane?” The seminar became a forum for exchanging ideas about the evolving role of service robots in contemporary society. Janika Leoste, the head of the Creativity Matters research group at TalTech IT College, and Prof. Thomas Hollstein from Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences shared their insights and experiences with service robots, contributing to a rich discourse on the subject.