Afterwards, the former security guard was not able to find work – until he was hired by Dignity Kitchen, a social enterprise restaurant in Mong Kok where disabled people cook Singaporean hawker food.
Kwan works out of a centre operated by SAHK, a rehabilitation service organisation, a few days a week. When his shift starts at 11am, he turns on two tablets and puts on headphones with a microphone attached.
On one tablet, he launches software that allows him to see where his robot is at Dignity Kitchen. The other gives him different camera angles of the restaurant.
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The initiative was started by Koh Seng Choon, founder and executive director of Dignity Kitchen. He has helped hundreds of disabled people in Singapore and Hong Kong into regular employment. Now, the Singaporean wants to help paraplegics find work through SAHK.
“The idea came from James Cameron and the [film] Avatar. It’s the guy in the wheelchair and a capsule, and [they] created this cool creature. So I thought, why don’t we do the same thing, with this person at home and controlling a robot which operates in a common area, actually earning a living,” Koh explains.
“That’s what Project Dignity does … creating [jobs] for people who we feel should be engaged and be integrated into society. Nowadays, you see a lot of robots delivering goods and stuff like that, going around spraying sanitiser. Robots can do more than that. I don’t see why we can’t put humans into that combination.”Temi isn’t designed to actually deliver food to people in Dignity Kitchen, but to allow the paraplegic – who Koh describes as “differently abled” – to interact with others through it.
Koh was prevented from travelling to inspect potential robots for the initiative by the coronavirus pandemic, so he turned to the internet for research. Although he originally thought a large model would be good, he realised one smaller than a person would be less intimidating.In the end, Alfred Sit Wing-hang, Hong Kong’s Secretary for Innovation and Technology, loaned two robots to Koh to use for a year. With the help of a software company based in the Hong Kong Science Park in the New Territories, they used open-sourced programming in Android to enable movement and communication with the controller behind Temi.
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‘Avatars’ roll in restaurant that uses robotics to create jobs for disabled, homebound workers
‘Avatars’ roll in restaurant that uses robotics to create jobs for disabled, homebound workers
The other loaned robot, also called Temi, is being piloted by another paraplegic, Eddie Lau Pui-nam, at the Hyatt Regency Hong Kong, Sha Tin.
Lau, who is 49 and speaks Cantonese, Mandarin and English, was hired by the hotel as a concierge assistant. The hotel gave him the requisite training, including the details about the property and the surrounding area so he can answer guests’ questions.
Although the pilot programme had started only a few days earlier, general manager Wilson Lee Po-lam was already enthusiastic about having Lau and Temi working in the hotel.
“The observation is that most guests are pleasantly surprised that we have this robot who is a concierge assistant. Some guests were like, ‘Well, who are you? Why do we have this robot here?’ But once Eddie started introducing himself to the guests, they were all fine,” says Lee.“He was roaming around, taking guests from the entrance to the cafe, or to the ballroom on the lobby floor. The robot cannot do steps or go up escalators or into the lift, but the set up of our lobby is big and wide enough for Eddie to go around. We are still trying it out.”
Koh explains that the area in which Temi moves is mapped out so the controller knows where pillars, walls, doors and stairs are, and cameras show where people are. He says Kwan and Lau were initially worried about bumping into people, but soon realised that the technology helps them navigate well.
Kwan used to work in a shopping centre, but his life changed on September 4, 2019, when he was travelling to work and an elderly man fell backwards on the escalator in front of him.
To stop him from falling over, Kwan tried to hold him up with his left hand while holding onto the handrail with his right. The weight was too much and he fell backwards, breaking his collarbone and damaging his spinal cord.“At the time, I was still conscious and wanted to get up, but I couldn’t. My left hand was numb with no strength, and my neck was affected. I was thinking I needed to call my employer to tell them I was injured and couldn’t go to work, but the paramedics told me to call my family and tell them I going to hospital.”
Kwan had three surgeries. The first one was successful, but the other two resulted in complications and he has to take medication to lessen the pain in his spinal cord.
“I didn’t want to be a burden to my elderly parents, I didn’t want to be a vegetable,” he says, which is why he is grateful to have this chance to work for Dignity Kitchen.
“Lots of people have helped me. Each time I have a problem, SAHK and Dignity Kitchen help me solve it. I’m very happy. They are solving issues I never thought of before.”
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Lau, who used to work in shipping logistics, is also thrilled to have a job again. Last September, Lau began to have problems with his balance, like falling over when running for the bus. He was eventually diagnosed with angioma, a benign growth of blood vessels, in his brain.
“The worst was when I could only move my head,” recalls Lau. “After medicine and rehabilitation, I am a bit better with some movement, but my fingers aren’t that dexterous. Today, I am more flexible and can do some exercises.”
Lee says Lau only works twice a week, so the hotel plans to recruit more people to control Temi on the other days. That way, there will be someone manning the robot seven days a week for a few hours each day, such as when guests check in and out. If the pilot is deemed workable, the hotel chain may eventually have Temi robots in all four of its properties in Hong Kong.
“The most important thing for me is the heart, that this operator wants to do it and wants to have that experience of running around in the hotel and meeting people, helping guests,” says Lee. “We love Eddie.”
“I see robots answering questions, but the face [tends to be] a cartoon face. They must make it humanised,” Koh says. “So it is a matter of combining technology and social together, and that will create jobs. You can see the actual person and they can talk to you, engage you.
“The psychological impact is even greater – we give hope to the person who is controlling the robot, and they are earning a living.”
Kwan says he has only had good experiences working remotely for Dignity Kitchen.
“The guests ask me where I am, and I tell them I’m in Ma On Shan, and they give me a thumbs up. They think I have the heart to do this and that I’m doing well.”
