The makers of Loro unveil their new look at CES
Parrots are beautiful and cool animals, but it’s doubtful any of them can duplicate the functions of an assistive device that was featured in a PN Innovations article last year and has now been updated to look like the colorful birds.
Appearing in the May 2019 issue of PN (Connect With Loro), Loro is a smart electronic device that helps people with spinal-cord injury and disease (SCI/D) connect with the world. Attaching to the back of any wheelchair, the device looked a bit like a high-tech periscope with a desktop computer camera on top in that first article. However, the name Loro means parrot in Spanish, and the device’s creators have been busy since that first article with more testing and morphing their innovation into looking like its namesake bird.
This new version is making its debut this week in Las Vegas at the mega consumer electronics show known as CES. Working through an application that is compatible with all platforms, it features a 360-degree camera, flashlight, laser pointer and audio system mounted to a pole. It allows users with limited mobility to better see and interact with the people around them. Loro co-founder and Chief Technology Officer David Hojah says they called the device Loro because they want it to be a companion to users.
Besides giving users who are seated a better view of everything around them, Loro can translate speech to text for users with hearing impairments, become a voice for those with speech issues by translating words from a keyboard into audio and even has facial recognition abilities. Another update since first appearing in PN is that Loro can now also be integrated with smart home technology.
Hojah says they’ve been working with eight testers over the last several months and are still looking to get additional feedback from them. The feedback is driving the decisions they’ll make on the final product since they’re dealing with people who have all types of disabilities.
He says they’ve had initial talks with manufacturers about getting Loro into full-scale production, and it will be built in the U.S. Hojah says they hope to start taking preorders for Loro in the next month or two and will have them for sale shortly after that.
To read more about Loro, check out the May 2019 issue of PN or visit loro.xyz.
