The fundamental differences between voice assistants like Google Home or Alexa and Matilda are:

At a technology level:

• Matilda can operate without the internet, whereas voice assistants like Google Home or Alexa cannot operate without the internet.
• Matilda has its own private network (ensuring privacy) which enables it to be connected locally to Bluetooth and Wi Fi enabled smart devices.
• Matilda can scan its environment 270 degrees in 3D for detecting, tracking and communicating with its human partners.  

At an interaction level:

• Matilda is underpinned in inclusive design and has been evidenced to engage people with dementia, autism, and learning disabilities
• Matilda with its shape, baby-like face, emotive expressions and gestures is more believable and trustworthy among its human partners.
• Matilda can interact in 30 languages in an offline and private mode.
• Matilda with its ability to move its head 270 degrees in 3D is able to track and interact with its human partners in a wider space.

Social robots like Matilda with a baby-like face are robots that interact with humans and each other in a human-like manner with voice, emotive expressions and gestures. These attributes allow social robots like Matilda to engage and communicate with its human partners in meaningful ways and break technology barriers between people and technology.

• Matilda has been evidenced to provide human-like engagement and communication.
• Matilda has been designed to be digitally inclusive and a support companion. In other words, it has been evidenced to engage, enable and empower people with disability, autism, dementia and those with limited literacy and technology skills, and learning disabilities.
• Matilda can provide offline (without internet) and online (with internet/cloud-based) services.
• Matilda has its own private network which can connect locally to Bluetooth and Wi Fi enabled smart devices.
• Matilda can scan its environment 270 degrees in 3D for detecting, tracking and communicating with its human partners.
• Matilda has been evidenced to be age independent (used by 4-year to 90-year-old) enabling it to be used in a variety of settings.