Josy: Development of a Digital Companion for Elderly People – A New Way to Experience Technology

Physical and mental health of elder people is of major importance for an increasingly aging society and closely related to the aspect of daily social contact. Threatened by the SARS- CoV-2 pandemic, elderlies and other risk groups retreat and isolate themselves to minimize the risk of infection. How to solve the arising consideration of pros and cons of social contact? By using a user-centered approach, we developed an artificial, social companion and interaction partner named “Josy”. Josy is a cost-efficient, quickly realizable and easily accessible solution for the duration of the pandemic but also beyond that. As an interactive avatar, Josy stimulates physical and mental state by offering helpful tasks for structuring everyday life in order to improve the quality of life of isolated, elderly people.