Introducing Autom: A Robot that Helps You Diet

Meet Autom, the newest gadget on the weight-loss scene.

Autom is far more advanced than your usual weight-loss technology such as stopwatches or heart rate monitors.

Autom is essentially a weight loss coach. While most dieters become less motivated, and therefore less likely to stick out a diet as time goes by, the social nature of Autom helps encourage them to stay on track.

The brains behind Autom is Cory Kidd. Kidd is the chief executive and the co-founder of Intuitive Automata. While studying at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab and working with patients at the Boston Medical Center clinic, Kidd came up with the first design for Autom. The company website details, "Our company is built on the years of human-robot interaction research conducted by our founder and CEO Cory D. Kidd, Ph.D. at the MIT Media Lab. Some of his early studies directly compared the effects of interacting with a robot versus an animated character on the screen. These studies showed that people were more engaged by a robot and when the got information from a robot or an animated character, consistently found a robot to be more informative and more credible." Kidd has set up his company in Hong Kong, right across the border from his factory, located in China.

According to Intuitive Automata, "As obesity and chronic illness reach epidemic proportions around the world, our brand and products will be positioned as a new, intuitive technology that can provide much needed help and support to individuals trying to overcome or manage these conditions."

Autom sits on a counter or desktop. Users enter data about their diet and exercise on the touch screen of Autom's belly. She has an advantage over computer programs in that she interacts with the user. She speaks, blinks her eyes, turns towards faces and responds to data that dieters enter. Users get feedback instantly as well as a reminder of their long term goals, reinforcing diet goals and increasing the motivation to stay on track.

Don't worry about technical skills. Kidd assures users that Autom is so simple to use that the robot doesn't even come with an instruction manual. You just plug Autom in, and you're all set. Autom's on-screen and voice instructions tell you everything you need to know.

Kidd estimates the cost of Autom will be around $500 when it's released next year. Autom will also require a monthly subscription fee. Compared to the price of a gym membership, personal trainer, nutritionist or weight loss coach, Autom might be the best weight-loss deal around.

Intuitive Automata: Introducing Autom
Wall Street Journal: Autom, A Robot That Helps You Diet