Guro-gu Expands Distribution of 'Smart Toy Robots' for Elderly Living Alone

Supporting Emotional and Daily Care for Seniors through Robot Dolls: Dementia Prevention, Personalized Alarms, and 96.7% Satisfaction among Existing Users... Additional Distribution to 100 Households This Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Guro-gu (Mayor Lee Seong) is expanding the distribution of ‘Smart Toy Robots’ for elderly people living alone.

A Guro-gu official stated, “We are implementing the ‘Smart Toy Robot’ project using advanced ICT technology to support the emotional and daily care of elderly people living alone,” and added, “This year, we will expand the target group and distribute additional toy robots to 100 households of elderly people living alone within the district,” on the 28th.

The ‘Smart Toy Robot’ is a talking robot doll that supports emotional interaction, daily life and health management, and safety for the elderly. The doll is equipped with responsive sensors inside, allowing interactive activities such as head stroking and hand holding. It also offers content such as quizzes, exercises, and meditation to help prevent dementia. When a guardian sets alarms through a mobile app linked to the doll, it provides voice notifications for wake-up, meals, and medication times. If no movement is detected from the elderly person for a certain period, the system sends an alert message to the guardian.

Last year, Guro-gu selected 225 elderly people aged 65 or older living alone in the area, including low-income individuals, dementia patients, and those diagnosed with depression, and provided them with toy robots. A satisfaction survey conducted among users showed that 96.7% wished to continue using the toy robots. It also demonstrated overall improvements in feelings of loneliness and depression.

Accordingly, Guro-gu decided to distribute an additional 100 smart toy robots this year and recruited new users until last month. The dolls are scheduled to be delivered to the elderly by next month. In cooperation with elderly care centers and welfare centers, a systematic operation system will be established to provide better services by strengthening user monitoring and incorporating feedback.

A Guro-gu official said, “We expect the smart toy robots to provide vitality to the lives of lonely elderly people,” and added, “We will do our best to ensure the elderly have a healthy and happy later life.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.