Justin Santamaria moves his fingers across his iPad and suddenly the creature comes alive. The size of a baby, Zora rises from the floor onto her feet, flexing her white plastic limbs, joint by joint. She stands there, her eyes round and appealing, and the five elderly ladies seated in a semi-circle in front of her are full of anticipation.
“She’s giving me the eye,” laughs a lady in a wheelchair. But that’s impossible because Zora is a robot. Since February 2019, the management of this nursing home in Paris’s 15th arrondissement have been using her to complement the care they offer their elderly residents.
Zora leads her class through a gentle workout. She moves her head up and then down to her chest, then from side to side, all the while accompanied by calming music. Her five students follow her every movement.
The next exercise gets them working their arms. Everything, including Zora’s speech, is preprogrammed by Justin on his tablet But Justin is no mere puppet master He is a specialist fitness instructor for the elderly and disabled, and while Zora shows her students the moves, Justin is free to give them individual attention. He walks over to a lady in a wheelchair and encourages her to stretch her arm fully. “I know you find it difficult,” he says sympathetically. He explains to the group that circling their arms will help with picking things up.
The members of this chair-based gym class at Villa Lecourbe obviously adore Zora. All have poor mobility, some have cognitive problems, too. But they do as Zora tells them and when she—they always refer to the humanoid robot as a “she”— plays La Vie en Rose, they sing along, smiling.
この記事は Reader's Digest UK の September 2020 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は Reader's Digest UK の September 2020 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
EVERY SECOND COUNTS: TIPS TO WIN THE RACE AGAINST TIME
Do you want to save 1.5 seconds every day of your life? According to the dishwasher expert at the consumer organisation Choice, there’s no need to insert the dishwashing tablet into the compartment inside the door.
May Fiction
An escaped slave's perspective renews Huckleberry Finn and the seconds tick down to nuclear Armageddon in Miriam Sallon’s top literary picks this month
Wine Not
In a time of warning studies about alcohol consumption, Paola Westbeek looks at non-alcoholic wines, how they taste and if they pair with food
Train Booking Hacks
With the cost of train travel seemingly always rising, Andy Webb gives some tips to save on ticket prices
JOURNEY TO SALTEN, NORWAY, UNDER THE MIDNIGHT SUN
Here, far from the crowds, in opal clarity, from May to September, the sun knows no rest. As soon as it’s about to set, it rises again
My Britain: Cheltenham
A YEAR IN CHELTENHAM sees a jazz festival, a science festival, a classical music festival and a literature festival. Few towns with 120,000 residents can boast such a huge cultural output!
GET A GREEN(ER) THUMB
Whether you love digging in the dirt, planting seeds and reaping the bounty that bursts forth, or find the whole idea of gardening intimidating, this spring offers the promise of a fresh start.
Under The GRANDFLUENCE Suzi Grant
After working in TV and radio as an author and nutritionist, Suzi Grant started a blog alternativeageing.net) and an Instagram account alternativeageing). She talks to Ian Chaddock about positive ageing”
Sam Quek: If I Ruled The World
Sam Quek MBE is an Olympic gold medalwinning hockey player, team captain on A Question of Sport and host of podcast series Amazing Starts Here
Stand Tall, Ladies
Shorter men may be having their moment, but where are the tall women?
