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🇦🇷 Argentina /Technology

Argentine startup unveils new Ato AI companion for older adults

From La Nación · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources New plan
  • Argentine entrepreneurs Juan Cereigido and Gaspar Habif launched the second generation of Ato, an AI-connected speaker designed specifically for older adults.
  • The device moves from 3D printing to plastic injection molding, allowing production at greater volume and speed for global expansion.
  • New features include improved sound and microphones, background-noise cancellation, interactive radio and noninvasive health monitoring.

Ato is being presented as “your grandparent’s next computer,” but its creators say it is not a conventional virtual assistant. The AI-connected speaker is designed to talk with older adults, initiate conversations, relay family messages and offer cognitive games developed with gerontology specialists.

Argentine founders Juan Cereigido and Gaspar Habif, both 27 and based in San Francisco, unveiled the product’s second generation after a year of development and 2,500 first-generation devices sent to relatives and customers. The biggest change is manufacturing: Ato is moving from 3D printing to plastic injection molding, a shift intended to support much larger production and worldwide expansion.

We will be able to produce at greater volume and speed so we can truly reach all the older adults in the world.

· Gaspar HabifHabif described the expected effect of shifting Ato’s manufacturing process to plastic injection molding.

The new hardware includes improved manufacturing quality, better sound, higher-quality microphones and softer-feeling buttons. It also adds background-noise cancellation, which can filter distractions such as a television playing while a user speaks.

This new device is already Ato’s final form.

· Gaspar HabifHabif said future changes would mainly come through software updates.

The founders draw a sharp line between Ato and mainstream assistants. “An Alexa is for people of all ages, while an Ato is for older adults who really need companionship and do not get along with technology,” Cereigido said. Unlike an assistant that waits for commands to automate a home, Ato is designed to behave more like a companion.

Users spend an average of 10 minutes a day with the device, usually across three conversations of about three and a half minutes. Some isolated users talk with it for as many as 60 hours a month, Cereigido said. The second generation also introduces two patented features: interactive radio, which listens to broadcasts and proactively comments with the user, and noninvasive health monitoring that analyzes changes in patterns. The provided text ends while describing that monitoring system.

An Alexa is for people of all ages, while an Ato is for older adults who really need companionship and do not get along with technology.

· Juan CereigidoCereigido explained how the product differs from general-purpose virtual assistants.
About this summary

Originally published by La Nación in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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