Williamsburg Landing is proud to introduce its newest residents, the Temi robots! Recently winning the Gold award in the High Tech, High Touch division of McKnight’s Senior Living Excellence in Technology Awards, the community is using the robots to bring a newfound spark of joy to residents during the pandemic. As companion robots, they have the ability to perform functions such as video chat, serving as a smart home hub, playing games, music and videos, following his user around and carrying small objects.
Two of the new companion robots were welcomed into Assisted Living, Memory Support and Health and Rehab in June and a third found a home in Independent Living last month. Since then they have been working to interact with residents and pique their interest in technology in a new way. Their user friendly operation allows them to serve as a bridge between technology and all generations of users—both residents and staff.
IT Systems Technician and Temi Pro, Derek Vinson, spent two months programming the Temi robots and teaching them the lay of the land in each building where they travel. They have mapped out their surroundings and are able find spaces on their own with the touch of a button. Each Temi recently received an update to allow them to perform deliveries making them official delivery robots in addition to their companion capabilities. This means that staff can send necessities to residents and other staff members with the touch of a button on Temis screen. Upon delivery, Temi can say a pre-written message and return back to its point of origin.
Temi has been extremely useful to the organization during COVID-19. Staff are able to use its video chat capabilities to allow residents to see and communicate with their loved ones. The ability to control Temi manually through the Temi smartphone app gives staff the option to perform virtual visits with residents if necessary.
The Activities team has used Temi in several ways. They are able use it to calm agitated residents by having him play their favorite song, spark joy for others by having him play their favorite movies and answer trivia questions, create laughter with a joke of the day and create toe tapping music out on the patio.
Williamsburg Landing is the only senior living facility in the area that uses this technology and has already purchased two more to add to the fleet. We pride ourselves on being a "smart community" and are excited to add Temi to our team and see how its technology and capabilities develop over time.
Williamsburg Landing is the first and only accredited Life Plan Community in the region. The independent, non-profit organization provides a gracious, socially enriched environment and full continuum of care including independent living, assisted living, memory support, short & long term nursing and adult day services to accommodate seniors needs through every stage of life.
