Pepper, the humanoid robot from Robots of London, will be showcasing its capabilities at Headway Suffolk’s Conference on 17 May 2023 at Kesgrave Conference and Community Centre.
Standing at under 4 foot tall, Pepper is the first robot with the ability to recognise principal human emotions as well as being able to adapt his own behaviour. It uses sensors to monitor what is going on around him before making independent decisions.
Pepper is designed to be a real every day companion with the ability to communicate, as well as perceive emotions and to be kind and endearing.
Developed by Japanese company Softbanks, Pepper is used in the real world across several different sectors, including healthcare.
Southend-On-Sea City Council used Pepper for community engagement and to facilitate reminiscence activities in social care. It was described as a “dementia-friendly robot”.
Two years ago, University of Bedfordshire carried out a groundbreaking study with care home residents using Pepper into how robots can be used to help older people deal with feelings of isolation and loneliness, without ever replacing human contact.
The study found residents responded positively and saw an improvement in their mental health and feeling of isolation following interaction with Pepper, who is described as “culturally competent”, which means that after initial programming, it learns about the interests and backgrounds of care home residents.
Robots of London promote Pepper as the care home assistant with the ability to “show potential residents around the home through the use of voice, images and video. Pepper is able to let existing residents have access to messages from their loved ones and set reminders for when they need to take their medication”.
Headway Suffolk will continue to announce speakers and sponsors for the 2023 Conference – Living Positively with a Disability.
To enquire further about the conference, purchase tickets and sponsorship/trade stand opportunities, contact Helen Fairweather on 01473 712225 or email [email protected].
Headway Suffolk has attracted great interest in its conferences in previous years, with past speakers including Prof Stephen Hawking, Chris Tarrant, Prof Robert Winston, Jane Hawking and Dawn Astle.