How About a Robot for a Friend? Meet One With the loveorfriends App

MILAN, Italy, June 21, 2018 (Newswire.com) - Apps follow everyone in everyday life at the cost of memory on their smartphones. There is one application that has emerged that people don't want to live without. The loveorfriends app has given its users the opportunity to meet and interact with a robot.

To take part, users simply need to register by completing a form on www.loveorfriends.com and downloading the loveorfriends app, available on GooglePlay and AppStore, by June 18, 2018. The 3 users with the highest number of invitations sent by loveorfriends app by September 15, 2018, will win the chance to meet the “LorF Robot”. But what is LorF Robot and what does it do? Does it cook delicious dishes for its guests? Or does it prefer taking a selfie? Does it sometimes cry when things go wrong? The winners of the “#RobotFriend” competition will be able to find out the answer to all these questions and more on  September 25, 2018, in Milan, when the location and identity of the “LorF Robot” will be revealed!

I hope this competition can help modulate some of the concern around the issue, by giving users of our app the chance to meet and interact with a humanoid robot and make up their own minds. But the main goal of our competition is to show the potential in terms of socialization of a humanoid robot and its possible uses for individuals and the community, with particular reference to autism, given that it is precisely the lack of social interaction that lies at the root of the autistic syndrome.

Andrea Buragina, Co-founder at Lorf

Launched by an Italian start-up, the loveorfriends app is an app to play and enjoy with Facebook friends. Users decide who, where and when and invite their friends to the places they prefer. Why? To have a lunch, dinner or an aperitif together;  but the important thing is to meet and do it in the real world, putting aside, at least for a moment, all the various social networks. "Through the '#RobotFriend' competition, we have decided to extend the meetings to a humanoid robot, giving our users something unique," Andrea Buragina, co-founder of Lorf.

Recently, robots have been the focus of public opinion. Just think of the widely published story of the dismissal of Robot Fabio in Scotland, which was employed in a supermarket in Edinburgh to assist and respond to customer requests. When asked by a customer "Where can I find beer?", Fabio was only able to respond "in the alcohol department", without being able to indicate the exact location. Episodes like this help understand what a Robot can and cannot do, but there is also comfort in that they show how humans are hardly replaceable, even in apparently simple tasks. Unlike the case of the disabled worker in Melzo, Italy, who was fired and replaced by a Robot. But an episode like this teaches another lesson: behind Robots there is always a human and his weaknesses among which perhaps a good dose of greed and lack of gratitude which stand out in this specific case. On the other hand, there is little talk of the importance that a Robot can have if placed at the service of a specific person, for example, to elderly people, often at the mercy of solitude, and to people with more or less important disabilities. These themes are introduced through the competition "#RobotFriend": a contest open to everyone which aims to highlight the value of a Humanoid Robot in terms of socialization.

LorF is not new to initiatives like these. Just think of HomeMate, the project that aims to create smart environments within the home to support people with autism. Precisely because of its innovative model that combines social aspects with profit, it has recently obtained the B-corp certification, the highest recognition for socially responsible companies. Moreover, it was recently supported and promoted by Intermonte SIM, on the occasion of its traditional conference "Made in Italy excellence", which brings together the best of small and medium-sized companies listed on the Italian market.

For full details on participation in the Contest, please consult the Rules, which are available on www.loveorfriends.com.

LORF is an innovative start-up founded on Valentine's Day 2017 and it is also a Benefit company that supports projects on autism. LORF has obtained Certified B Corporation status, the highest standard for socially responsible companies. The loveorfriends App facilitates social interaction by encouraging people to swap the virtual world for the real one: this objective is strategically related to the “benefit” goal as it is precisely the lack of social interaction that lies at the root of the autistic syndrome. Some autism sufferers, such as those with Asperger’s syndrome, could be among users of the app. LORF promotes HomeMate, which uses technology to give autism sufferers greater autonomy; it is supported by a video, "Did you know Autistics Change the World?", which takes the positive side of autism as the starting point to illustrate not only what autism is but also the potential future financial burden on the community, a problem that HomeMate’s technologically-assisted autonomy could help to solve.

For more information:

IR Top Consulting 
Financial Media Relations
Partner Equity Markets Borsa Italiana - LSE Group
Via C. Cantù, 1 - 20123 Milano
Antonio Buozzi, Domenico Gentile
Tel. +39 02 45473884 - +39 320 0624418
www.irtop.com

Source: LORF S.B. S.R.L.

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