#SUMHK: Cory Kidd and the Startup Robots of Intuitive Automata on February 6

Dr. Cory Kidd is the founder and CEO of Intuitive Automata, a health care technology company that creates interactive coaches to help people address the challenges of making lasting change.  Dr. Kidd received his M.S. and Ph.D. at the MIT Media Lab in human-robot interaction, a new field combining robotics, artificial intelligence, and psychology, among other disciplines.  While there, he conducted studies that showed the advantages of using a physical robot over screen-based interactions.  He also conducted an extensive study showing the efficacy of his weight loss coach in helping people to diet and did work in local nursing homes with robotic companions for elderly individuals.

Prior to his work at MIT, Dr. Kidd received his BS in Computer Science at the Georgia Institute of Technology.  While there he was a part of the Aware Home Research Initiative, a focused research effort that was looking for ways to allow older people to live in their homes longer.  He managed the research project and taught courses on related technologies.

Intuitive Automata introduction

Intuitive Automata creates interactive coaches for helping people better manage long-term health issues.  We address one of the biggest challenges in health care: getting patients to adhere to a medical or health regimen.  The technology is based on research by Dr. Kidd, our founder and CEO, that showed the efficacy of interactive robots at engaging a person over time and successfully conveying information to them.  He is joined by Bill McCord, our CTO who has over a decade of experience in commercial software development and has created the software on the robot and the back end.  Erica Young, our Chief Design Officer, is an industrial designer who has spent the last ten years developing products for the US market and overseeing their manufacture in China.

Our platform has been shown to be significantly more effective at engaging a patient over an extended period of time, allowing them to better adhere to a treatment regimen as compared to web, computer, and mobile applications.  The physical nature of our product combined with the advanced interaction algorithms that are drawn from psychology, medicine, and human-robot interaction are proven to be more engaging and effective at conveying information to the patient than screen-based systems.

The first product we are launching targets the US $68 billion weight loss market and is a coach that is designed to help an individual lose and keep off weight.  You can see a quick overview of Autom, our coach, at http://myautom.com/about.html and learn more about the company athttp://intuitiveautomata.com. 

Intuitive Automata is preparing to enter manufacturing in the fall of 2011 in preparation for delivering first products to customers in early 2012.  Our first customers include some of the largest US health insurance companies, hospital and provider networks, and employers.  These initial customers, combined with our extensive press attention, has given us an excellent position from which to launch our product.

 

Autom™

Autom™ is an interactive weight loss coach that has been shown to be more effective at keeping a dieter engaged than any existing weight loss program.  Using proprietary AI algorithms that create a daily interactive conversation between the coach and the user, Autom™ is able to create and maintain a long-term relationship.

Developed by Intuitive Automata, the theories behind Autom™ were created by Dr. Cory Kidd as part of his Ph.D. at the MIT Media Lab.  He also worked closely with a leading medical weight loss expert, Dr. Caroline Apovian of Boston University Medical Center’s Nutrition and Weight Management Clinic, who remains medical advisor to the company.