Steady progression
As the theme exhibition date approaches, our group has had good progression with our project. Our initial idea of the smart tray has been slightly modified to become a smart calendar instead. The smart calendar aims to help individuals manage their daily activities and reminders as well as be informed of their loved ones’ emotional status.
Journey map
To better explain our project to the audience, a draft of the journey map was created. User’s persona, user’s interaction and robot’s response are just a few categories included inside the map. By listing the probable thoughts and current mood of the user, we are able to better program the robot response. As such, the robot is able to extrapolate and anticipate the emotions of the user and react accordingly under different circumstances.
Facial recognition
Moreover, an important component to the success of our project would be the facial recognition feature. With a camera mounted to the robot, the robot can sense different emotions of the user. These emotions include neutral, sad, angry and happy. By being able to independently access and gauge the user’s emotional status, the robot would be able to respond with the optimal actions under different scenarios.
APP screens
In addition, to better facilitate the robot, a linked APP is used to allow the user to better manage their schedule. The APP has the option of modifying one’s schedule as well as setting reminders or messages. Furthermore, there is also a emotional grade to see how they fair over the past week or month. The convenience of being able to tick and reply to reminders set by their loved ones makes the user’s life easier.
Moreover, the APP allows syncing of music to Spotify to let the user create their playlist when they are sad or happy. As such, upon reaching home, the robot can play music automatically to the user’s mood so that the user feels relaxed and calm.
3D prototype
The avatar of the robot is actually a cat, gaining inspiration from the Chinese Fortune Cat. With movable ears and body, it can express a multitude of actions under different circumstances. With the screen as a face, it can toggle between the calendar page and its own facial expressions. Furthermore, the robot will listen any inputs from the owner and sync them directly to their schedule. The flexibility and convenience of this feature does not require the user to rely heavily on his phone. Hence, the user can go about managing both family and work with ease.
