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GeckoSystems' Applauds $66B Robotics Market Discussion in "Breakthrough Technology Alert" Newsletter
CONYERS, GA, Feb 03, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) --
GeckoSystems Intl. Corp. (PINKSHEETS: GCKO)
(http://www.geckosystems.com/) -- announced today that they are very
pleased with the recent stock analyst treatment received in the
February issue of the "Breakthrough Technology Alert" newsletter.
GeckoSystems is a dynamic leader in the emerging mobile robotics
industry revolutionizing their development and usage with "Mobile
Robot Solutions for Safety, Security and Service(TM)."
"All of us here at GeckoSystems are excited about the noted stock
analyst, Mr. Patrick Cox's, recent newsletter article titled, 'The $66
Billion Robotics Revolution.' Mr. Cox is a long time stock analyst
with an illustrious record of many of successful predictions of
emerging technologies with significant opportunity for the investor
community. We are very pleased and appreciative to receive this kind
of recognition for our many years of hard work focused on emerging
robotics markets," stated Martin Spencer, President/CEO,
GeckoSystems.
Many in the U.S. may mistakenly believe that the Japanese are world
leaders in personal robot development. However, this is not the case.
In the last ten years, the Japanese government has granted over $100M
in R&D funding amongst their leading international manufacturers for
the development of eldercare personal companion robots, but still
have no viable products developed.
"In the U.S. we project the available market size in dollars for cost
effective, utilitarian, multitasking eldercare personal companion
robots in 2011 to be $74.0B, in 2012 to be $77B, in 2013 to be $80B,
in 2014 to be $83.3B, and in 2015 to be $86.6B. With market
penetrations of 0.03% in 2011, 0.06% in 2012, 0.22% in 2013, 0.53% in
2014, and 0.81% in 2015, we will anticipate sales, from this consumer
market segment, only, of $22.0M, $44.0M, $176M, $440.2M, and $704.3M,
respectively. We expect these sales despite -- and perhaps because
of -- the present recession due to pent up demand for significant
cost reduction in eldercare expenses. Our ongoing, world's first in
home elder care robot trials continue to support our long held
beliefs that there is great good to be done here, safely and at great
time and money savings for potentially hundreds of thousands of
families," concluded Spencer.
Like an automobile, mobile robots are made from steel, aluminum,
plastic, and electronics, but with ten to twenty times the amount of
software running. The CareBot has an aluminum frame, plastic shroud,
two independently driven wheels, multiple sensor systems,
microprocessors and several onboard computers connected in a local
area network (LAN). The microprocessors directly interact with the
sensor systems and transmit data to the onboard computers. The
onboard computers each run independent, highly specialized
cooperative/subsumptive artificial intelligence (AI) software
programs, GeckoSavants(TM), which interact to complete tasks in a
timely, intelligent and common sense manner. GeckoNav, GeckoChat and
GeckoTrak are primary GeckoSavants. GeckoNav is responsible for
maneuvering, avoiding dynamic and/or static obstacles, seeking
waypoints and patrolling. GeckoChat is responsible for interaction
with the care-receiver such as answering questions, assisting with
daily routines and reminders, and responding to other verbal
commands. GeckoTrak, which is mostly transparent to the user, enables
the CareBot to maintain proximity to the care-receiver using sensor
fusion. The CareBot is an internet appliance that is accessible for
remote video/audio monitoring and telepresence.
Other recent online articles:
"Personal Robots to Monitor Elderly Vital Signs" - June 16, 2009
By C. G. Masi
http://cgmasi.com/eyeontechnology/2009/06/
personal-robots-to-monitor-elderly-vital-signs.html
"The Robots Have Dawned: Meet The CareBot(TM)" - June 28, 2009
By Ira Rosofsky, Ph.D.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/adventures-in-old-age/
200906/the-robots-have-dawned-meet-the-carebot
About Patrick Cox:
Patrick Cox has lived deep inside the world of transformative
technologies for over 25 years. In the 1980s, he worked in computer
software development and manufacturing. By the mid-1990s, he worked
as a consultant for Netscape -- the company that handled 90% of all
Internet browsing traffic at the time. He's appeared on "Crossfire"
and "Nightline," and his writing has been featured in "USA Today"
numerous times. See: http://agorafinancial.com/author/patrickcox/
Mr. Cox publishes his newsletter, "Breakthrough Technology Alert," on
Agora Financial's website. See:
http://breakthroughtechnologyalert.agorafinancial.com/
About Agora Financial:
Agora Financial has been a leading innovator in the financial advice
industry for over 25 years. Not only have their economic forecasts
been uncannily accurate, but they have consistently beat the
mainstream financial media to the punch.
Readers of their publications were aware of the housing bubble, the
credit bubble and excesses underlying the Panic of '08 years before
they happened -- and in many cases were able to prosper while other
investors got blindsided. In the past they've shown readers ways to
make 129% on crude oil's rise, 162% by playing gold, 417% betting on
the mortgage collapse and even 1,011% on the shipping industry.
Their honest, unconventional, unbiased and independent financial
forecasts have been recognized by numerous media sources including
"Wall Street Journal," "The Economist," "Reuters, the "Financial
Times" and many more. See: http://agorafinancial.com/about/
Please Note:
No party, within, or outside of GeckoSystems has directly, or
indirectly compensated Mr. Cox, Agora Financial, or any person or
entity associated with him.
About GeckoSystems International Corporation:
Since 1997, GeckoSystems has developed a comprehensive, coherent, and
sufficient suite of hardware and software inventions to enable a new
type of home appliance (a personal companion robot) the CareBot(TM),
to be created for the mass consumer marketplace. The suite of primary
inventions includes: GeckoNav(TM), GeckoChat(TM) and GeckoTrak(TM).
The primary market for this product is the family for use in
eldercare, care for the chronically ill, and childcare. The primary
distribution channel for this new home appliance is the thousands of
independent personal computer retailers in the U.S. The manufacturing
infrastructure for this new product category of mobile service robots
is essentially the same as the personal computer industry. Several
outside contract manufacturers have been identified and qualified
their ability to produce up to 1,000 CareBots per month within four
to six months.
The Company is market driven. At the time of founding, nearly 12
years ago, the Company did extensive primary market research to
determine the demographic profile of the early adopters of the then
proposed product line. Subsequent to, and based on that original
market research, they have assembled numerous focus groups to
evaluate the fit of the CareBot personal robot into the participant's
lives and their expected usage. The Company has also frequently
employed the Delphi market research methodology by contacting and
interviewing senior executives, practitioners, and researchers
knowledgeable in the area of elder care. Using this factual basis of
internally performed primary and secondary market research, and third
party research is the statistical substance for the Company's sales
forecasts.
Not surprisingly the scientific statistical analyses applied revealed
that elderly over sixty-five living alone in metropolitan areas with
broadband Internet available and sufficient household incomes to
support the increased costs were identified as those most likely to
adopt initially. Due to the high cost of assisted living, nursing
homes, etc. the payback for a CareBot(TM) is expected to be only six
to eight months while keeping elderly care receivers independent, in
their own long time homes, and living longer due to the comfort and
safety of more frequent attention from their loved ones.
The Company's "mobile robot solutions for safety, security and
service(TM)" are appropriate not only for the consumer, but also
professional healthcare, commercial security and defense markets.
Professional healthcare require cost effective, timely errand running,
portable telemedicine, etc. Homeland Security requires cost effective
mobile robots to patrol and monitor public venues for weapons and WMD
detection. Military users desire the elimination of the "man in the
loop" to enable unmanned ground and air vehicles to not require
constant human control and/or intervention.
The Company's business model is very much like that of an automobile
manufacturer. Due to the final assembly, test, and shipping being
done based on geographic and logistic realities; strategic
business-to-business relationships can range from private labeling to
joint manufacturing and distribution to licensing only.
Several dozen patent opportunities exist for the Company due to the
many innovative and cost effective breakthroughs embodied not only in
GeckoNav, GeckoChat, and GeckoTrak, but also in additional, secondary
systems that include: GeckoOrient(TM), GeckoMotorController(TM), the
GeckoTactileShroud(TM), the CompoundedSensorArray(TM), and the
GeckoSPIO(TM).
The present senior management at GeckoSystems has over thirty-five
years experience in consumer electronics sales and marketing and
product development. Senior managers have been identified for the
areas of manufacturing, marketing, sales, and finance.
While GeckoSystems has been in the Development Stage, the Company has
accumulated losses to date in excess of six million dollars. In
contrast, the Japanese government has spent one hundred million
dollars in grants (to Sanyo, Toshiba, Hitachi, Fujitsu, NEC, etc.)
over the same time period to develop personal robots for their
eldercare crisis, yet no viable solutions have been developed.
By the end of this year, the Company plans to complete productization
of its CareBot offering with the introduction of its fourth generation
personal robot, the CareBot 4.0 MSR. The Company is the first
personal robot developer and manufacturer in the world to begin
in-home eldercare evaluation trials.
What Does a CareBot Do for the Caregiver?
The short answer is that it decreases the difficulty and stress for
the caregiver that needs to watch over Grandma, Mom, or other family
members most, if not much, of the time day in and day out due to
concerns about their well being, safety, and security.
But, first let's look at some other labor saving, automatic home
appliances most of us use routinely. For example, needing to do two
or more necessary chores and/or activities at the same time, like
laundering clothes and preparing supper.
The automatic washing machine needs no human intervention after the
dirty clothes are placed in the washer, the laundry powder poured in,
and the desired wash cycle set. Then, this labor saving appliance
runs automatically until the washed clothes are ready to be placed in
another labor saving home appliance, the automatic clothes dryer.
While the clothes are being washed and/or dried, the caregiver
prepares supper using several time saving home appliances like the
microwave oven, "crock" pot, blender, and conventional stove, with
possible convection oven capabilities.
After supper, the dirty pots, pans, and dishes are placed in the
automatic dishwasher to be washed and dried while the family retires
to the den to watch TV, and/or the kids to do homework. Later,
perhaps after the kids have gone to bed, the caregiver may then have
the time to fold, sort, and put up the now freshly laundered clothes.
So what does a CareBot do for the caregiver? It is a new type of
labor saving, time management automatic home appliance.
For example, the caregiver frequently feels time stress when they
need to go shopping for 2 or 3 hours, and are uncomfortable when they
have to be away for more than an hour or so. Time stress is much
worse for the caregiver with a frail elderly parent that must be
reminded to take medications at certain times of the day. How can
the caregiver be away for 3-4 hours when Grandma must take her
prescribed medication every 2 or 3 hours? If the caregiver is
trapped in traffic for an hour or two beyond the 2 or 3 they expected
to be gone, this "time stress" can be very difficult for the
caregiver to moderate.
Not infrequently, the primary caregiver has a 24 hour, 7 days a week
responsibility. After weeks and weeks of this sometimes tedious, if
not onerous routine, how does the caregiver get a "day off?" To
bring in an outsider is expensive (easily $75-125 per day for just 8
hours) and there is the concern that medication will be missed or the
care receiver have an accident requiring immediate assistance by the
caregiver, or someone they must designate. And the care receiver may
be very resistant to a "stranger" coming in to her home and "running
things."
So what is it worth for a care receiver to have an automatic system
to help take care of Grandma? Just 3 or 4 days a month "off" on a
daylong shopping trip, a visit with friends, or just take in a movie
would cost $225-500 per month. And that scenario assumes that
Grandma is willing to be taken care of by a "stranger" during those
needed and appropriate days off.
So perhaps, an automatic caregiver, a CareBot, might be pretty handy,
and potentially very cost effective from the primary caregiver's
perspective.
What Does a CareBot Do for the Care Receiver?
It's a new kind of companion that always stays close to them enabling
family and friends to care for them from afar. It tells them jokes,
retells family anecdotes, reminds them to take medication, reminds
them that family is coming over soon (or not at all), recites Bible
verses, plays favorite songs and/or other music. It alerts them when
unexpected visitors, or intruders are present. It notifies
designated caregivers when a potentially harmful event has occurred,
such as a fall, fire in the home, or simply been not found by the
CareBot for too long. It responds to calls for help and notifies
those that the caregiver determined should be immediately notified
when any predetermined adverse event occurs.
The family can customize the personality of the CareBot. The voice's
cadence can be fast or slow. The intonation can be breathy, or
abrupt. The voice's volume can range from very loud to very soft. The
response phrases from the CareBot for recognized words and phrases
can be colloquial and/or unique to the family's own heritage. The
personality can range from brassy to timid depending on how the
caregiver, and others appropriate, chooses it to be.
Generally, the care receiver is pleased at the prospect of family
being able to drop in for a "virtual visit" using the onboard webcam
and video monitor for at home "video conferencing." The care
receiver may feel much more needed and appreciated when their far
flung family and friends can "look in" on them anywhere in the world
where they can get broadband internet access and simply chat for a
bit.
Why is Grandma really interested in a CareBot? She wants to stay in
her home, or her family's home, as long as she possibly can. What's
that worth? Priceless. Or, an average nursing home is $5,000 per
month for an environment that is too often the beginning of a spiral
downward in the care receiver's health. That's probably $2-3K more
per month for them to be placed where they really don't want to be.
Financial payback on a CareBot? Less than a year- Emotional payback
for the family to have this new automatic caregiver? Nearly
instantaneous-
Safe Harbor:
Statements regarding financial matters in this press release other
than historical facts are "forward-looking statements" within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and as that term is defined in
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company
intends that such statements about the Company's future expectations,
including future revenues and earnings, technology efficacy and all
other forward-looking statements be subject to the Safe Harbors
created thereby. The Company is a development stage firm that
continues to be dependent upon outside capital to sustain its
existence. Since these statements (future operational results and
sales) involve risks and uncertainties and are subject to change at
any time, the Company's actual results may differ materially from
expected results.
Contact:
GeckoSystems Intl. Corp.
http://www.geckosystems.com/
Main number: 1-866-CAREBOT (227-3268)
International: +1 678-413-9236
SOURCE: GeckoSystems Intl. Corp.
http://www.geckosystems.com/
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Thrupoint is committed to providing unsurpassed technology and consulting services to leaders in the networked economy. We deliver value to our partners by giving them access to our award winning Ubiquity communications platform and NGIC Applications. Our ecosystem is at the ready to help propel the sales of our partners with best-in-class technology solutions, combining strategic resources to deliver high-value competitive advantage to our clients.
Thrupoint is committed to providing unsurpassed technology and consulting services to leaders in the networked economy. We deliver value to our partners by giving them access to our award winning Ubiquity communications platform and NGIC Applications. Our ecosystem is at the ready to help propel the sales of our partners with best-in-class technology solutions, combining strategic resources to deliver high-value competitive advantage to our clients.
