Lifestyles

Eyes and Ears for Sick Students

OSLO, Norway — In 2015, Karen Dolva learned from a friend who had worked briefly in a pediatric hospital ward of the loneliness that afflicts children during long-term hospital stays. The conversation inspired Dolva, who was working as a digital consultant at the time, to research the effects of social isolation on young people.

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Penelope Colston
, New York Times

OSLO, Norway — In 2015, Karen Dolva learned from a friend who had worked briefly in a pediatric hospital ward of the loneliness that afflicts children during long-term hospital stays. The conversation inspired Dolva, who was working as a digital consultant at the time, to research the effects of social isolation on young people.

Within weeks, she and two tech industry colleagues, Marius Aabel and Matias Doyle, had formed No Isolation, a tech startup that aims to develop technological solutions to societal problems such as loneliness.

At the London Design Biennale, the Norwegian exhibition includes the newest version of the company’s AV1, a desktop unit designed to look like a robot, which can connect a sick student to the classroom. “We were surprised,” said Dolva, the company’s chief executive. “We couldn’t really grasp that technology hadn’t already solved this problem.”

The unit, whose role Dolva likened to that of a video game avatar, has no intelligence of its own. But its white plastic housing covers a camera, microphone and speaker that a student can operate from a smartphone or tablet. Specially positioned motors allow the camera in the unit’s head to scan the classroom a full 360 degrees, or to angle the head upward to face a teacher or fellow student during conversation. (There is even a “whisper” feature that lets the student engage in a hushed exchange with nearby classmates.)

A light atop the unit’s head shines white to show that it’s streaming sound and video and blinks to alert a teacher when the student wishes to speak. It also can be turned to a “sleepy mode” blue that indicates the student is present but wishes to be left alone. The connection is made using Wi-Fi or 4G cellular network via livestreaming that is encrypted by No Isolation’s servers, and for security reasons the device can neither record nor store images or sound.

At a little more than 10.5 inches tall and weighing 2.2 pounds, the unit can sit on a desktop or easily be taken along on school outings, Dolva said, adding that its 4G compatibility means it maintains connectivity wherever it is transported, like a cellphone. Also like a phone, it has to be charged.

Rachel Johnson of Northamptonshire, England, said it immediately enabled her 16-year-old daughter, Zoe, who has chronic fatigue syndrome, to attend school alongside friends after three years of home schooling — and to engage in vital teenage social interaction.

“She chatted with some girls during break time, just normal teenage conversation, but this was something she hadn’t done since becoming ill in 2014,” Johnson wrote in an email.

“It did cause some problems at the beginning because Zoe was reminded of everything she had been missing out on. It caused a lot of tears and upset; lots of regret and ‘if only,’ but that soon passed, and it became a very positive experience.”

The latest version of the AV1 comes with LED lights behind the eyes that change color to indicate different emotions. It is available in 10 European countries, including Britain and France, and can be rented starting at about 167 euros, or just under $200 a month. The company declined to give a purchase price, saying that the cost of the AV1 can vary depending on local 4G rates and the service package required by the purchaser. The company has introduced similar technology to help older adults.

“While this cannot replace genuine face-to-face connection, it is an evocative example of how AI technology can aid the disabled,” said Oren Etzioni, chief executive of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Seattle. “Think of the power of AI in the service of the many blind, deaf and others in our society whose bodies or senses are challenged.”

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