RoboPaws

The landing screen with an overview of nearby events.
An interface to select a new robotic companion to adopt/share
A screen to create a new event

Inspiration

In Munich, loneliness affects people across all age groups. We developed RoboPaws to bridge generational gaps through a universal connection point: pets. By leveraging advances in robotic companion animals, our platform creates meaningful social interactions between users while they share experiences and attend events together.

What it does

RoboPaws revolutionizes the robotic pet experience by transforming it into a social catalyst. Users can:

"Adopt" and personalize their robotic companion
- Discover and join pet-friendly events based on their interests
- Connect with diverse community members
- Share experiences and stories
- Participate in city-organized events designed to combat social isolation

The platform empowers both individuals and city administrators to create engaging events, particularly benefiting neighborhoods with higher senior populations.

How we built it

We developed the Android application using FlutterFlow, prioritizing an intuitive and accessible user interface.

Challenges we encountered

While exploring the social applications of robotic pets, we discovered numerous potential features. Our main challenge was maintaining focus on core functionalities to deliver a streamlined, purposeful experience.

Key achievements

We quickly established a clear vision for the service and efficiently executed our development roadmap, resulting in a cohesive platform that serves its social purpose while remaining simple to use.

Scientific basis

“Owning a pet was associated with lower levels of social isolation”[1]

“Social robot interventions had significant positive effects on decreasing depression and loneliness.”[2] “Group-based robot activities had a better effect on improving depression than individual-based robot activities.”[2]

[1] Kretzler, Benedikt et al. “Pet ownership, loneliness, and social isolation: a systematic review.” Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology vol. 57,10 (2022): 1935-1957. doi:10.1007/s00127-022-02332-9. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9272860/ [2] [Yen, Huang, Chiu, Jin. “The Effect of Social Robots on Depression and Loneliness for Older Residents in Long-Term Care Facilities: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials” Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, Vol. 25, 6, (2024): 104979. doi:10.1016/j.jamda.2024.02.017. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1525861024001762]