Generally, when we think of robots that help people, we think only of something that physically helps them, but is that all? Wouldn’t you like an “AI concierge” that communicates with people by gestures and provides information?
For example, consider what kind of robot would be useful in the case of senior care.
If it is difficult to promote care for seniors with human resources, what kind of system would help unwell people to enjoy their lives more without the help of nurses and other professionals?
To my surprise, Radio is the most enjoyable media for people who have reached a certain age. As people get older, the first things to be crippled are their knees and hips, and then their eyes. The eyes become increasingly difficult to see due to presbyopia, cataracts, and glaucoma. People over the age of 65 are becoming more and more handicapped, as they cannot see objects up close or even at a certain distance. This makes it difficult to see TV or even small letters on a computer, and smartphones are out of the question. Even in this situation, it is the ear that functions the best until the end. My mother was able to hear clearly even just before she passed away. That is why she listened to the radio for most of her later years. Unlike TV or PC, radio is a medium that allows you to listen to whatever you want. It is a very convenient medium that you can listen to if you want to, and if you don’t want to, it becomes like background music. It is strange, but when I hear chatter on TV, it bothers me, but I don’t seem to mind radio chatter as much. Is it a difference in the way the programs are made? It seems that radio is once again becoming popular among young people who rarely watch TV anymore, and its appeal has been rekindled.
To think about radio as a sound medium, we must first consider the origins of radio. In the old days, the only way to transmit sound to distant places was to send it over the airwaves. The only way to do this was to build a high radio tower and send out radio waves all at once, and the people who wanted to listen to them would use radio receivers to listen. Therefore, communication was one-way, and everyone listened to the radio programs sent out by the broadcasters. Even so, many radio stations were established on various frequencies so that people could listen to their favorite programs as much as possible. Such a system was created mainly because it was necessary due to the level of technology at the time. Now, what should radio as a “sound media” be like with today’s technology?
Nowadays, with the Internet technology and cell phone infrastructure, we can get any information we need wherever we are. It is a dream come true to be able to make a TV call anywhere in the world with a single cell phone. As you probably know, sound media on the Internet, such as Internet radio and PodCast, have already appeared. But are they really the ideal “radio as sound media”?
Based on the current level of technology, the concept of “radio as a sound medium” is likely to change. The biggest difference is the concept of “bidirectionality”. In the days of broadcasting over the airwaves, bidirectionality was a very difficult technology to achieve. Nowadays, however, two-way communication is commonplace on the Internet and cell phones. It is now commonplace for a terminal user to be able to send data to the originator. Despite this, Internet radio and podcasts only use the interactive feature to select programs at best.
The next important feature is on-demand. It means that you can listen to your favorite programs at the time you want to hear them. This has been achieved with PodCast, but not with Internet radio. It would not be an exaggeration to say that radio as a sound medium is still in its early stages of development.
Now, when we want to enjoy “radio as a sound media” more, what kind of functions do we want? In addition to “listening to programs,” recent advances in AI technology have led to the evolution of functions that enable intelligent conversation, such as ChatGPT. With such functions, the radio not only recognizes commands like a smart speaker, but also responds to the owner’s ambiguous requests, selects the appropriate program for the owner, and allows the owner to set the program playback time, etc. The radio as a sound media” that can respond intelligently to the owner’s requests can be realized.
In short, it would be fun to have a radio with a “concierge” function that not only listens to audio programs, but also selects programs according to the owner’s preferences, adjusts the time to listen to them, and even engages in small conversations. I think it would be fun to have a radio with a “concierge” function. Basically, the function of a radio is to play programs, but it would be more enjoyable if it had a concierge who can have a small conversation with you and give you various suggestions and information.
Furthermore, since it is a concierge, it should still be in a form that is easy for the owner to talk to. It could be a character on a tablet screen, for example, or it would be more fun to have a robot of your favorite character that moves in response to sounds and conversations. You would like the media more if your favorite character talked and sang in appearance. More to the point, I can also imagine ideas such as making the character in the shape of your grandchildren. Having a character with the appearance of your choice move means that “radio as a sound medium” will become a medium that you will be more emotionally involved in. If the owner becomes emotionally involved and feels more familiar, the “AI concierge” will become a more wonderful “AI concierge for pre-symptomatic care”.
We would like to think about how we can take care of people with unwellness in real facilities and homes, what kind of tools are needed for this purpose, and what we can do with the “AI concierge” to help people with unwellness enjoy their time with us. We do not have a clear idea of what kind of functions we would like to see in the AI concierge, since it does not yet exist in the world. We would like to define the necessary functions and realize them through variety of means, based on our and your experiences and solutions.
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