We showed Navel to the nursing trade public at the PflegePLUS trade fair from 17 to 19 May and received a lot of positive feedback. The Evangelische Heimstiftung, one of the largest public institutions in Germany, invited us to present our start-up and Navel to the professional audience for the first time at the stand of their subsidiary ABG.
As usual, the acoustic conditions at trade fairs are very poor for robots and dialogue systems because the background noise is very high. Thanks to the new microphone array, Navel was able to understand its counterpart surprisingly well, even though a few misunderstandings occurred here and there with the prototypical dialogue system.
But we were very positively surprised by the many positive feedbacks. There are usually a lot of nursing staff at the PflegePLUS trade fair and we expected a lot of scepticism and fears. In fact, only a small percentage (maybe 20%) initially reacted negatively. But after seeing Navel in action, almost all of them were enthusiastic about Navel. Many could not stop making eye contact with Navel and observing his reactions and facial expressions. And many would have liked to take Navel home right away.
It was striking that the young nurses, some of whom were still in training, showed astonished enthusiasm and a sparkle in their eyes right from the start. There was no fear of contact among these digital natives, only the desire to be able to work with such a digital helper as soon as possible.
Many nursing home managers were also immediately convinced and asked to be allowed to participate in the planned pilot projects in 2023. The costs did not seem to be an obstacle.
However, I was most moved and pleased by the reactions of the experienced, mostly female nursing staff, who have been mastering the challenges for decades with a lot of heart in order to work together with the needy people in a fulfilling way. They know exactly where the needs are, but also where the opportunities are. And typically they are not particularly tech-savvy. However they understand exactly how helpful it would be if a little helper could autonomously bring people out of their twilight sleep many times a day and additionally activate them and create a good mood, because they themselves simply cannot be everywhere at the same time. When I hear from such women that this is exactly the right thing to do with Navel, that we should continue with our development and persevere, and they wish us all the best, my heart swells and I know: we are on the right path.
Thank you for all the great feedback!
