Star Trek is becoming reality with the robotic dietitian. While not available for sale yet, the website says you can sign up for the mailing list to be informed of when they are for sale.
image by Aaron Edsinger
From ABC News: “Autom is a weight-loss coach. So what she does is talk to you about how much you’re eating and exercising. And the reason for that is we know that people who are trying to lose weight or keep off weight that they’ve lost who keep track of those two things are more likely to be successful,” said Cory Kidd, robot inventor.
Autom helps people stick to their diets by verbally asking dieters to input data about what they ate on a touch screen. The robots then provide encouragement and advice.
Automs are making test runs now in Boston-area homes. The success of those they help will be compared to the success rates of dieters who do it the old-fashioned way — keeping track of their diet and exercise with pen and paper.
And the Autom already has a host of fans, singing its praises.
Amna Carreiro lost 9 pounds in eight weeks. “It was interactive. It was very personable. By putting the information in, I got instant feedback, so I was able to track my goals and basically adjust my exercising and eating habits,” Carreiro said.