‘World’s first companion robot’ hit with software suit
Robot is designed to help vulnerable people, including the elderly, sick, as well as autistic children and adults | California company accuses French firm of infringing copyrights in a software code.
A French robotics company is facing a copyright infringement complaint in California over the voice recognition technology used in its product, ‘Buddy’, a companion robot designed to offer emotional support to users.
Blue Frog Robotics launched Buddy—a motorised robot measuring 22 inches in height and weighing 8kg—in France in 2015, and four years later in the US.
The Paris-based company’s founder Rodolphe Hasselvander devised the machine while looking for an aid for his grandmother and also managing a robotics research centre.
According to a press statement issued by Blue Frog at the time of Buddy’s launch, Hasselvander succeeded in building the “world’s first emotional robot” to offer “real, human-like help and services at an affordable price”.
‘Personality’ robot operated by voice
Buddy is able to hear and speak thanks to built-in speakers and a microphone system, while his interaction with users is managed by a mix of voice control, body language, display and remote control on a smartphone or tablet.
According to BlueFrog, Buddy is “full of personality” and reacts to his environment through “a range of expressions that allow him to better engage with his user”.
The robot is marketed for use in an array of settings, including care homes, hospitals and educational environments.
For caregivers, Buddy monitors elderly activities, detects unusual activity and sends alerts in the event of an emergency, notes the company’s statement.
Buddy, it adds, also allows students to learn differently while having fun and introduces them to the world of digital technology with coding or programming apps.
As an avatar, Buddy allows sick children from a hospital room or home to teleport to their classroom and continue to share relationships with his classmates, while he is also designed to help autistic children communicate and interact with others.
‘Unpaid work’
Last week, on November 9, California firm Sensory filed a complaint at the US District Court for the Northern District of California, accusing the defendant of using its voice-recognition software without permission.
Sensory creates software programs, including programs that enable devices to respond when certain words are spoken. It alleges that Blue Frog intentionally and purposefully directed their activities towards the state of California by entering into a contract with Sensory to develop software for Blue Frog and subsequently infringing Sensory’s copyrights in its software code.
Blue Frog entered a contract with Sensory to have Sensory develop a ‘wake word’ system for Buddy, according to the complaint. And while Sensory completed the work, Blue Frog allegedly did not make the final payment due for the work and never entered a licence agreement to use the product.
Earlier this year, Sensory says that it received an inquiry from Blue Frog asking for refinement of the wake word software. This, notes the complaint, was the first time Sensory learned that Blue Frog was using Sensory’s software without authorisation.
Blue Frog has not to date responded to repeated requests to address its unauthorised use of Sensory’s software, it adds. David Berten, partner at Global IP Law Group, filed the complaint on behalf of Sensory, which is seeking a jury trial.
