Month: July 2024

Japan: The café where employees work remotely

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The accessible, barrier-free floor of the café is filled with robotic staff.

Kentaro Yoshifuji needed to be hospitalized multiple times and for extended periods when he was a student and couldn’t go to school.
 

This experience inspired him to study robotics and “use technology to improve the lives of people who were unable to participate physically either in work or social life.”

Thus, with the help of crowdfunding and grants, he created the Dawn Avatar Robot Café, a Japanese business that shows that robots don’t necessarily take away our jobs, but on the contrary, they can help create inclusive workspaces.

The image at Dawn is as follows:

The accessible, barrier-free floor of the café is filled with robotic staff. There is a robot that greets customers, another to help them find seats, and another that suggests daily specials and takes orders. Additionally, there is the popular Tele-Barista, a humanoid “master” of coffee who will take care of the pumpkin spice latte at the bar.

However, the awkwardness of asking a robot to take your order is bypassed as patrons know it’s the human side that makes Dawn special.

The humanoid robots OriHime and OriHime-D, standing at 120 centimeters tall, serve as avatars for the workers who operate them remotely. These operators interact with customers, suggest items from the menu, and ensure that your coffee is just the way you like it.

The business employs people with disabilities to control the robots, creating inclusive job opportunities for those who cannot leave their homes or are, in many cases, bedridden.

Employees can use a mouse, an iPad, or even an eye-controlled remote to operate the robots from a wheelchair or a bed.

According to the Ministry of Health in Japan, over 7% of the population lives with a disability.

Indeed, most of the humanoid robots are equipped with iPads so that customers can interact with the person controlling them.

It should be noted that in 2012, Yoshifuji won the Human Power Award for “OriHime,” the first robot with an avatar to combat loneliness.

Source: naftemporiki.gr

At the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, Maria Markou

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At the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, Maria Markou, a Paralympic champion in bench press weightlifting, will participate.

According to a post by the Cyprus Sports Organization (CSO) on Facebook, “Our Paralympic champion in bench press weightlifting has secured her ticket through the World Rankings and will compete again in the world’s premier sporting event.”

It is added that Maria Markou will be the third member of the Cypriot delegation, after Karolina Pelendritou and Victor Pentara, to participate in the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

“Congratulations,” concludes the CSO post.

Infocredit Group Honored with Gold Award at the Cyprus Responsible Business Awards 2023

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Infocredit Group is thrilled to announce its recognition at the Cyprus Responsible Business Awards 2023, organized by Boussias. The company proudly secured the esteemed Gold award. The awards ceremony was held yesterday at Galu Seaside in Larnaca.

The Cyprus Responsible Business Awards 2023 recognize and reward best practices in supporting society. Infocredit Group’s constant support for Ablebook played a pivotal role in this achievement. Infocredit Group claimed the Gold award in the “Society” category, underscoring its steadfast commitment to social responsibility and community support.

Theodoros Kringou, CEO of Infocredit Group, commented on the award: “We are honored to receive this recognition, and this award is a testament to our commitment to social responsibility. We will continue to support initiatives like Ablebook that make a positive impact on our society. We also invite other companies to join us in supporting these vital initiatives. By working together, we can create a more inclusive and supportive environment for all members of our community.”

Andreas Vasileiou, Co- Founder & CEO at Ablebook, expressed his gratitude: “The greatest thanks belong to Infocredit Group and specifically to Theodoros Kringou for his constant support. Symeon Stylianou, Data Transformation & Quality Advisor at Infocredit Group and Co- Founder & CBO at Ablebook, also stated ‘’ The support for other people has enabled us to implement actions that improve the lives of society and the people with disabilities. Our initiatives have contributed to creating a more inclusive environment for everyone. This award crowns our efforts and gives us the strength to continue our mission. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.’’

Infocredit Group remains dedicated to fostering a culture of social responsibility and encourages others to contribute to building a better future for everyone.

Cyprus without sustainable mobility: ‘I can’t even go to the kiosk.’

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Title: Miranda Lysandrou

Even a ten-year-old child knows that the word “sidewalk” is a compound word derived from the words for “pedestrian” and “road.” Pedestrian-road… The road for pedestrians. Not for cars, otherwise, we would call it a parking space; not for bicycles, otherwise, it would be called a bike path; not for scooters, trash cans, trees, and other obstacles. It is the space for pedestrians. It rightfully belongs to them. And no one has the right to take it over.

We all park on sidewalks. Let’s admit it. Without even feeling guilty. Wherever they exist and are functional, that is, constructed with the correct specifications. Because the local authorities also turn a blind eye. You realize that the excuse of parking for just, supposedly, a minute doesn’t hold up. One minute for you, one minute for me, and the sidewalk is permanently occupied. Forcing pedestrians, whether fully abled or those with mobility issues, to step onto the road at the risk of their physical integrity.

In our country, the illegality regarding the occupation of sidewalks has become the norm, with the tolerance and inactivity of everyone, unfortunately, without anyone to remove the obstacles and enforce order.

The Alpha News program recorded, frame by frame, the problems faced by people with mobility issues in all cities because all of us, shamelessly, block their access. Access not just to a road, not just to a disabled parking space, but access to autonomy, social integration, equality, and without exaggeration, to the right to life.

Our fellow citizens with severe disabilities number 15 thousand. In total, 145 thousand people in Cyprus face disabilities ranging from mild to severe. All these people do not want words of comfort, nor do they need our pity. They need the development of an environment without barriers so that they can move around autonomously. So that they can go to their jobs without risk, accompany their children to school, or go out to eat with their friends without feeling different. Equality is their inalienable right, and ensuring it is our responsibility.

More at: https://www.alphanews.live/cyprus/horis-biosimi-kinitikotita-i-kypros-oyte-sto-periptero-den-mporo-na-pao

11-Year-Old with Deafness Cured by Gene Therapy in the USA

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Several studies with this type of therapy are already underway or being planned worldwide.

An eleven-year-old boy who was born deaf can now hear thanks to a special gene therapy, according to American reports.

The boy from Morocco was the first person in the USA to receive gene therapy, which is still in the experimental stage, at a children’s hospital in the metropolis of Philadelphia on the East Coast, reported the New York Times, citing the hospital and the involved companies.

However, the therapy does not mean that the boy can now understand language and speak on his own: he may never be able to do so, the report said. According to the report, the brain has a window for language learning that starts from the second or third year of life. After the age of five, it closes forever.

According to the report, the eleven-year-old has a very rare genetic defect that affects about 200,000 people worldwide. A single mutated gene causes the deafness, which is replaced by an intact version during the therapy.

After completing several months of therapy, the eleven-year-old now has almost normal hearing, according to the New York Times.

Even if he cannot speak or understand speech, it could at least be useful for recognizing traffic or similar situations where he needs to pay attention to sounds. He can now also listen to music.

Several studies with this type of therapy are underway or planned worldwide, the report continues.

After the success with the eleven-year-old, scientists want to use the therapy on younger children. The inner ear is a small, enclosed space, so the gene therapy applied there does not affect cells in other parts of the body, Manny Simons, CEO of the involved company Akouos, told the New York Times.

According to the report, finding a suitable candidate was not easy for a specific reason: most babies born with this form of deafness receive cochlear implants in infancy to be able to hear and are then no longer eligible for such therapy trials.

The boy in question was not in a school in Morocco and learned sign language only in a special school in Barcelona after moving to Spain, according to the New York Times.