Personal Robot for Aging in Place Demos at CES

LAS VEGAS—Assistive robotics company Labrador Systems is presenting new demonstrations of its award-winning personal robot at CES (formerly the Consumer Electronics Show). The Labrador Retriever is featured at the Amazon Experience Area as well as the AgeTech Collaborative™ from AARP (Venetian Expo A-C, Smart Home Category, Booth #52332).

First announced at CES 2022, the award-winning Labrador Retriever personal robot empowers people to live more independently and extends the impact of caregivers. The assistive robot lightens the load of daily activities by moving essential items within the home and bringing them within reach. 

One of the Retriever’s abilities is to make smart home devices more accessible to people in their homes. Show attendees will be able to see new ways that Labrador is integrating with connected products to improve access for individuals where health issues are impacting their physical activities.

As one example, Labrador will be test demonstrating a proof-of-concept featuring Amazon’s Echo Show 10, which will be installed on top of the Labrador Retriever. On its own, the Echo Show 10 is an HD smart display with the Alexa. The device can rotate toward a person when they say the wake word (“Alexa”), helping the screen stay in view as they move around the room. When combined with the Retriever, this enables a new degree of freedom for customers by bringing the Echo Show 10 within easy view in different parts of the home. The result is a new way of interacting with the Retriever as well as broader range of options for connecting with caregivers. 

“The proof-of-concept demo with the Echo Show 10 is a preview of what we will be testing in our next rounds of pilots with care providers,” said Mike Dooley, CEO and founder of Labrador Systems. “Capabilities like this can make a dramatic difference in the quality of people’s lives and their ability to live independently while staying connected with others, and we’re grateful to Amazon’s team for their support on this project.”

Labrador will be running its demos at the Amazon Experience Area and the Age Tech Collaborative booth by AARP. 

AARP, the nation’s largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how they live as they age, launched its AgeTech Collaborative platform to scale new solutions for the $8.3 trillion 50+ market.  As a new graduate of AARP’s Startup Accelerator program and member of the AgeTech Collaborative, Labrador joins an ecosystem of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and industry leaders to meet the changing needs of our society.

In late 2022, Labrador announced reservations from leading care providers to support individuals in a variety of settings. Organizations set to receive the first deliveries of the Retriever Pro include: On Lok PACE, Nationwide Insurance, Masonic Homes of California, Western Homes Communities, Eskaton, The Perfect Companion, Presbyterian Villages of Michigan, University of Michigan Flint, and Graceworks Lutheran Services.

The Retriever claims to be the first autonomous robot of its kind to be deployed in homes at this scale to physically assist individuals where pain, injury or other health conditions impact their daily activities. It is large enough to carry items such as a laundry basket but agile enough to navigate the tight spaces of a home. The Retriever also features an innovative retrieval and delivery system to bring items within reach, enabling caregivers to set up items for delivery when they are not present. Caregivers and users can easily command the Retriever using their smartphone or with their voice through an Alexa-enabled device.