'Pet dog' invention to cheer seniors on in rehab journey

It is a pet robot dog which can move and bark as it spurs on seniors doing their rehabilitation exercises. It is also part of a system which allows monitoring of the seniors' exercise data over the cloud.

The project by Singapore Polytechnic (SP) beat 15 others to bag the top prize in the technology category at this year's National Assistive & Rehabilitation Technology Student Innovation Challenge. Ms Gina Teh, 20, one of four SP students involved in the project who have all since graduated, said: "We wanted to create a new platform to reduce the monotony of rehabilitation exercises... This would encourage the elderly to keep going in their rehabilitation journey."

Also in the winning SP team are Dr Jaichandar K. S., 50, and SP graduates Loo Si Hui, 21, and Amirah Sabrina Ahmad Ghozali and Kang Yi Jin, both aged 20.

The pet robot dog, which comes in the form of a soft toy fashioned after a beagle, is at the heart of the system known as SParkle. A smart dumbbell, smart glove and games box are linked to the pet robot by a processor. Data from seniors' use of them can be accessed remotely via the SParkle Android app.

A total of 28 entries across the technology and design categories were received for the competition from institutes of higher learning. The awards ceremony was held yesterday at the Nanyang Technological University's Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine's Novena campus. A team from ITE College Central snagged the top prize in the design category for its Go-Kart Walker design, beating 11 other entries.

The two winners and four other prize winners will be representing Singapore virtually in the Global Student Innovation Challenge at the International Convention on Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology to be held in Hong Kong on Aug 26.