Back Seat Companion

This conjecture explores the use of AI assistive robots in cars that can benefit the passengers and ease some of the pains of car travel. The Nomi robot implemented in NOI's car was able to achieve this with it's simple user interface and an approach that brings joy to passengers (Zhang, 2021). This robot concept would be able to do all of the things that the Nomi robot is able to do except this experience would be catered to children and more specifically to teaching quick lessons while on the go.

This is an admittedly very rough version of what a robot like this would actually look like but essentially how it might work is the robot can ask a question and the child can then select buttons on the face or features of the robot that correspond with possible answers to the question.

Something like this would be able to give children a break from their personal devices to experience moments of learning while in the car. I imagine that it would be a device that wouldn't live solely in the car but would mostly act as separation from children's personal devices in any situation. Ideally, a companion like this would be able to form a bond with a child and with the whole family. It would also know the age and learning progress of the child using it so it would ask questions and teach lessons accordingly. A robot like this has the possibility to create an environment of learning in the car what largely wasn't there before.

References

Zhang, P. (2021, March 29). What is Nomi? here’s Everything you need to know. cnevpost.com. https://cnevpost.com/2021/03/30/what-is-nomi-heres-everything-you-need-to-know/