OSLO, April 12 — Widower Per Leif Rolid lives alone on his farm, a two-hour drive from Oslo. His sense of isolation has mounted with the Covid-19 pandemic, but a simple screen is helping him stay in touch — without requiring any computer know-how. Aged 87, Rolid has never owned a computer,...
Karen Dolva, CEO of Norwegian start-up No Isolation, shows the company's technological devices aimed at helping the vulnerable such as older people and children with chronic illness beat loneliness during the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic. — AFP pic
The secret? A screen that looks like a mix between an old-fashioned television and radio, placed next to his TV. “I can see them while talking to them. I keep in touch with family at home and abroad, on travels. I feel like I can be with my family all the time,” Rolid says with a smile. According to psychologist and physiologist Christopher Lien, the added isolation is “particularly regrettable”.
The global market for such machines — known as telepresence robots — could rise by 20 to 35 per cent this year because of Covid-19, and could hit US$400 million, according to Lian Jye Su, tech analyst at ABI Research.
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