In a nursing home in Bern, elderly people are cared for by robots

“I'm a robot and I don't play games in the traditional sense. But I can help you with puzzles or quizzes if you want. The robot “Pepper” speaks into the Nau.ch microphone with a mechanical gesture.

He has been living in the Sonnhalde nursing home in Burgdorf BE since last May. The retirement home rented the robot for a year. Its function: “It should bring us joy and moments of happiness,” a nurse tells Nau.ch.

More precisely, it serves to support the nursing staff and aims to revitalize the population. “Bieber never travels alone,” explains Esther Berchtold, director of the foundation. “Together with people, you then perform some activities programmed by the robot.”

This includes, for example, games and tests – but also affection. “They enjoy it.” A resident lovingly strokes Bieber's head. When he cradles her hand almost like a cat, she laughs.

But no fear! Your grandmother will no longer be cared for by a robot, and human contact is still important. When Bieber was absent for a period of time due to “health” reasons (technical malfunction), the residents were able to deal with the matter well.

“It wasn't like they came in the morning asking questions,” Berchtold recalls. “I already noticed he wasn't there. But they didn't miss him terribly.”

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The head of the organization says that there is no need to worry about data protection either. “He doesn't film anything, so we didn't have to do anything special.”

Pepper is intended for entertainment and entertainment purposes only. But how do these elderly people deal with modern technology? Berchtold: “The residents are very open, they're willing to try something new. They're curious, and he's just someone who takes time for them.

By the way: Pepper will be familiar to many readers. In 2017, on the occasion of the first Swiss Digital Day, he moderated the “Schweiz aktuell” program alongside Bigna Silberschmidt.