Cory Kidd, Ph.D. is the founder and CEO of Intuitive Automata.
Intuitive Automata is creating interactive, social robots for helping people with long-term behavior change. Starting with its Autom™ weight loss coach, but also applying the same principles to things like managing diabetes, taking medication, or connecting an elderly person to their family.
How did you come up with this idea?
Our technology is based on work that I was doing at the MIT Media Lab during my masters and Ph.D. The first few years that I was there I was running some basic psychology experiments and discovered that a robot is much more effective at keeping someone engaged over long periods than an app on a phone or tablet. I’ve been working at the intersection of healthcare and new technology for nearly a decade and a half and see an enormous opportunity in applying this basic research to helping people to live healthier, happier lives. From there, I started and launched Intuitive Automata with two co-founders, including our CTO Bill McCord, as I was finishing school.
Who are you targeting and how big is the market in HK/Asia?
Many of our first customers are health insurers, hospitals, and employers in the US. We’ve been fortunate to receive a lot of press coverage and some awards in our first few years, which has led to some limited sales directly to consumers. For our health coach, I think that Asia is a growing market and we’re talking with a few potential partners for getting into several Asian markets.
What are your future plans for your startup?
At the moment we are intensely focused on turning years of R&D into our first shipping product. Autom™ has been many years in the making and we’re looking forward to starting to fulfill customer orders this year. Beyond that, we’re looking at some of the other applications I mentioned above.
1 Benefit and 1 Challenge in the HK startup scene?
I have been in Hong Kong for exactly five years and the entrepreneurial scene has grown enormously in that time. One benefit of that is that Intuitive Automata has been recognized as one of the early tech highlights of the HK startup scene and I represent Hong Kong in an international advertising campaign. The downside for us and many other startups is that there is not a robust investment environment in the city yet. It’s definitely growing, but we’re still seeking much of our funding in other places.
Intuitive Automata:
URL: http://intuitiveautomata.com http://myautom.com
Twitter: @autom
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IntuitiveAutomataInc
Connect with Cory:
Twitter: @coryk
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/coryk
(New) Blog: http://corykidd.net/blog
More about Intuitive Automata:
http://www.fastcompany.com/3002283/week-bots-japans-post-fukushima-robot-innovations
http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/18/meet-autom-the-quantified-self-robot-that-is-your-next-diet-coach-made-by-pch-and-intuitive-automata/
http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000026239
http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/blogs/vitamin-g/2012/10/the-199-weight-loss-coach–tha.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/08/ces-2011-awesome-products_n_806291.html#s221221&title=Autom
http://news.discovery.com/tech/robot-weight-loss-coach-helps-you-diet.htm
http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/meet-autom-robot-designed-dieters-article-1.1189208
http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/21/autom-the-robot-weight-loss-coach-well-just-keep-the-friends/
http://www.siliconrepublic.com/digital-life/item/29773-meet-autom-the-robot/
