Rodolphe Hasselvander is a pioneer of robotics in France. He discusses the impact of LLMs and advances in AI on robotics, the emergence of the humanoid robotics market and his approach to this fast-growing sector.
JDN. How did the Blue Frog Robotics adventure begin?
Rodolphe Hasselvander. I always had the ambition to create my own robot. And in 2015, I was faced with a personal situation: my grandmother was losing her autonomy, and my mother was exhausted taking care of her. It was a trigger. I told myself that it was possible to use the technologies I was working on to address these situations and provide useful solutions on a daily basis.
Your flagship product is the Buddy robot. Can you introduce it to us?
We thought of it as a truly open platform, allowing developers to create applications and generate revenue. And we designed its design, expressions and behaviors to create a bond of empathy with users and promote social interaction, which is a key element for large-scale adoption.
What were the first concrete use cases?
In 2018, we won a call for tenders launched by National Education. This has allowed us to deploy more than 1,500 robots in schools across France. The main use case was to allow sick children to continue to follow lessons remotely, from their hospital rooms. They could control the robot in the classroom via a tablet, interact with their classmates using microphones and cameras, and participate in school life. It was a kind of mobile videoconferencing, which also allowed them, for example, to visit museums with their class without leaving the hospital. The children are happy to have a little robot in the class who “embodies” their absent classmate and looks after them like a friend. I have received numerous testimonials from parents explaining, for example, that their child would have had to repeat a year without this system.
How much does the robot cost and what is your marketing model?
Buddy is sold individually for 2,500 euros. This makes it one of the most accessible robots on the market, at least among truly functional robots. Added to this is an annual subscription of 480 euros, which gives access to all cloud services: telepresence, artificial intelligence, updates, new applications, etc.
How have recent developments in AI, particularly LLMs, impacted Buddy?
When I started the company, we were targeting the senior market. We moved away from it because the technologies available at the time did not provide real value in terms of interaction. However, for older people, especially those who are isolated at home, one of the essential needs is to have someone, or something, to talk to. The arrival of LLMs has completely changed the situation. Today, it is possible to actually communicate with the robot, to configure its personality, its way of responding, its ability to restart a conversation… We can even go so far as to detect certain weak signals, for example, if a person repeatedly expresses discomfort. This allowed us to return to this market with a more relevant proposition.
So you have refocused on the silver economy?
In our opinion, this use is where the robot brings the most value. Buddy first acts as a caring companion with whom we can break the loneliness. But its usefulness goes far beyond. It provides valuable assistance to loved ones and caregivers. Having experienced this type of situation myself, I can say that it greatly reduces the mental load. For example, if someone doesn’t answer the phone for several hours, a loved one can log in via an app, see what’s happening remotely, and interact directly. If all goes well, this immediately reassures. In the event of a problem, it is possible to act more quickly, alert emergency services and reassure the person while waiting.
Unlike many current robots that seek to imitate humans, you have made a different choice. For what ?
Today, we see more and more humanoid robots emerging, but this poses several problems. First, there is the notion of the “uncanny valley”: the more a robot resembles a human without being completely human, the more it can arouse discomfort, or even rejection. Then, we didn’t want to give the impression that the robot could replace the human. Buddy’s design is deliberately non-humanoid: he has no arms or legs, and does not seek to imitate a human being or an animal.
Is the cost of humanoid robots also a barrier?
At home, there is an important issue: allowing an elderly person to stay at home as long as possible. If she has to enter an EHPAD, this represents a significant cost, close to 3,000 euros per month. If a robot helps push back this deadline, the value proposition is obvious. On the other hand, a humanoid robot in a nursing home represents a very significant investment. Can an establishment really justify spending 50,000 or 100,000 euros to improve the entertainment or comfort of residents? In the long term, however, certain uses of humanoid robots could become relevant. One of the most difficult tasks for staff is handling patients: helping them get up, accompanying them from one place to another. It is physically very demanding. The day we have humanoid robots that are sufficiently reliable and secure to assist with these tasks, there will be real value.
What is your vision of humanoid robotics and its evolution?
Their deployment will remain limited in the short term in domestic environments, where security requirements are very high. On the other hand, industry constitutes a much more favorable terrain. The environments are structured, the uses are well defined, and the adaptability needs are real. Humanoids will not replace specialized systems for repetitive tasks, where robotic arms remain more efficient, but they can provide value on varied tasks requiring flexibility.
As a pioneer of robotics in France, what is your view on the French ecosystem?
I find it quite disappointing that France has not managed to take this turn. Some public actors even consider that it is already too late, that the train has passed. This is regrettable, because there is a real issue of sovereignty, at least on a European scale. That said, even if my observation may seem pessimistic, I hope that France and Europe will still be able to structure and support a real robotics sector. Because during this time, China has invested massively, with considerable amounts, and today, this is reflected in the emergence of dozens, even hundreds of companies specializing in humanoid robots. On hardware, they have become extremely competitive, and it will be difficult to beat them in this area.
Do you plan to eventually develop a humanoid robot?
Humanoids are part of the roadmap: we are working on a form of “big brother3” of Buddy, in the medium term. For the moment, our strategy consists of deploying our robots on a large scale, which allows us in particular to accumulate data, “hot data”, from real uses, to better understand daily interactions, particularly at home. Today, few companies have such a volume of data on the concrete use of robots in daily life.
