Choo Poh Choo (left) and Tan Choon Sin with Lovot the robot at the PCF Sparkle Care @ Kreta Ayer centre on Jan 30. - ST
SINGAPORE: From February, little doll-like robots will mingle with seniors at several care centres in Singapore, following them around, expecting pats and hugs and responding to them with baby-like noises.
With their expressive eyes and cheerful personalities, robots Lovot and Kebbi are part of a new study examining whether robots might help seniors – especially the quiet ones – become more open to interacting with others in group settings.
Conducted jointly by eldercare agency PCF Sparkle Care and the Singapore University of Social Sciences, the study will involve around 70 seniors across four centres and will run for around six months.
The robots are dubbed junior care programme coordinators and will help break the ice during activities such as group conversations, games and multi-generational interactions that involve young people and children.
Seniors selling snacks to passers-by at the newly opened wing at PCF Sparkle Care @ Kreta Ayer on Jan 30. - ST
This formal study follows an informal trial of the robots at PCF Sparkle Care in Tampines done in 2025. PCF Sparkle Care chief operating officer Andy Seet said the seniors were initially wary of the robots.
“But after a week, we started to observe that the seniors who did not talk at all suddenly began talking or even singing to the robots,” said Mr Seet, adding that patients with dementia – who are usually reserved – began to sing songs in dialect they remembered from the past.
He was speaking at the PCF Sparkle Care @ Kreta Ayer centre during the launch of the study on Jan 30.
PCF Sparkle Care had purchased the robots from Japanese robotics firm Groove X and Taiwan-headquartered company Nuwa Robotics. Each Lovot model cost around $14,000, while each Kebbi model was around $2,000.
Lovot, which was showcased at the launch, is just under knee-high and can travel on its own via wheels and flap its arms. It can also recognise faces and tweak its reactions based on the facial expressions and tone of voice of each senior.
Though it is unable to speak, it can make baby-like noises in response to questions and conversation from the seniors.
Choo Poh Choo, an 80-year-old dementia patient who comes by the centre three times a week, enjoyed talking to Lovot.
“A lot of our children are grown up and married, and there aren’t many people at home,” said Choo in Mandarin, holding the robot in her arms while speaking to the media on Jan 30.
“There might be a helper at home, but there are some things you might not find appropriate to tell them. This could help to alleviate loneliness, and I don’t have to worry about whatever I say being told to others.”
She also noted that people might become easily frustrated talking to the elderly, whereas robots always offer a patient listening ear. Hence, she said, they are a good avenue for seniors to express their emotions without worrying about judgment or frustration.
However, she still prefers interacting with fellow seniors at the centre.
Seet said that while the robots are able to provide emotional comfort to seniors, they are not meant to replace human employees in supervision or decision-making.
He added that there are no plans to reduce staffing numbers as a result of this study. “Human care, judgment, and relationships remain irreplaceable in eldercare, and continue to be the foundation of Sparkle Care’s approach.”
For the study, besides the Kreta Ayer centre, three pairs of Lovot and Kebbi will also be progressively deployed at care centres in Bukit Panjang, Braddell Heights and Eunos.
Data collected – via built-in cameras in the robots, interviews and surveys – will help determine whether they will be deployed permanently at such eldercare centres, as well as the scale of deployment.
The study was launched in conjunction with the opening of a new wing at the Kreta Ayer centre on Jan 30.
The centre can now accommodate 85 seniors at once, nearly twice its previous capacity. It also features new facilities such as a gaming room and a window-side shop where passers-by can buy snacks from seniors.
The expansion was done to enable the centre to look after more seniors, said Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo, who officiated the opening of the new wing.
“The seniors living in our constituency here are mostly from the Pioneer or Merdeka Generation,” said Teo, who is an MP for Jalan Besar GRC.
“When we think about everything they’ve done for Singapore, it just feels like the right thing to do, to create an environment that recognises their longstanding contributions.” - The Straits Times/ANN
