Posts Tagged ‘voicebot’
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By Jemima Jordan 22nd October 09
Well, we did it. We put a robot in Parliament. Not just any robot I have to say, a robot that writes out, word for word, what young people care most about – delivering those messages directly to the politicians. At a time when only 3% of young people have ever contacted their MP, the robot – nicknamed Voicebot - is a very modern twist on writing a letter to your MP.The Voicebot is part of v’s proactive research campaign called Voicebox.
At a reception hosted by Tim Loughton MP, shadow minister for children and young people, to launch the robot’s week-long stay in parliament, lots of MP’s got to hear about the project and meet with the robot itself.
Speaking at the launch Tim Loughton MP said, ‘Voicebox puts young people right at the heart of democracy. This is a great initiative bringing politicians and young people together’.Other MP’s visiting the robot, reading young peoples’ cares and talking to the v volunteers included Angela Smith MP, Minister for the Third Sector, who commented, ‘Young people are our future and it is vital that we listen and understand their needs and concerns. Voicebox is an excellent two-way communication tool. It has the potential to give us real insight
, helping us to take action that is truly effective where it most counts’.Angela Smith MP, Minister for the Third Sector reading young peoples cares
Terry Ryall, chief executive of v reminded those at the launch that ’hundreds of thousands of young people want to make the world a better place. The challenge for politicians everywhere is to take risks with new ways to engage young people ‘.
The full results of the research underpinning the robot is being fed into v’s project with the think tank Demos, A New Anatomy of Youth.
More pics of the launch available here.
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By Jemima Jordan 9th October 09
The negative stereotypes of today’s youth as,’ violent’ ‘disrespectful’ or ‘apathetic’ were challenged, head on, today by the results of a innovative and straight-talking online youth poll, conducted by v as part of our new online youth insight project, Voicebox. Voicebox is specifically designed to give 16-25 year olds a platform to express their real views on a variety of topical social issues, ranging from crime to the community, and blows apart the idea that the young generation are ‘apathetic’ or ‘disengaged’. The research actually showed that young Britain’s top 5 concerns in order of priority are (1) Education (2) Their Future (3) Employment (4) Family (5) The state of the world.
Rather than demonising today’s youth, the research paints a far more positive picture of today’s 16-25 year olds which the charity hope will open the public’s eyes and inform government and policy makers. The poll found that 85% of young people said that they or their friends don’t carry knives; 86% of respondents had never shoplifted goods worth more than a fiver and 69% did not agree that drugs were ok for recreational use.
More worryingly, what the poll did reveal is that young people are becoming increasingly disillusioned with society and the government with 71% of young people believing that we do not live in a fair society; 59 % of young people feeling the world is becoming a worse place; over half (54%) of respondents saying the recession has affected them and only 10% of young people feeling that politicians are the best people to change the country.
Further results revealed that 78% of 16-25 year olds do, in fact, respect their elders; 75% of young people are happy with the relationship they have with their family and 68% of respondents are content living at home. A stark contrast between many modern day perceptions and the truth of what it’s really like to be a young person living in the UK today.
To find out more about Voicebox, head to http://voicebox.vinspired.com
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By Jemima Jordan 9th October 09
As MPs go back to work at Parliament, a new study has shown that just 10% of young people believe politicians are best able to change the country. But the results also show that young people do care about the world they live in and the charity v has come up with an innovative way to make MPs sit up and take notice. A new addition to the House of Commons today will be an interactive robot.At a time when only 3% of young people have ever contacted their MP, the robot – nicknamed Voicebot - is a very modern twist on writing a letter to your MP. Until Thursday, young people can visit a website, put in what they care about and the robot will write it out, stroke by stroke, word by word, directly to the politicians.
Before entering Parliament, Voicebot has been collecting comments from 1000s of young people, including:“Why do politicians get longer holidays than primary school kids?”
“Young people are generally seen as people who like to cause trouble but really I think it is because their opinions are ignored”
Voicebot is part of v’s proactive research campaign called Voicebox, with over 5,000 people having taken part so far. The project is live and constantly evolving. The more young people that participate the more accurate picture we’ll create of young Britons. The robot will be in the Houses of Parliament until 15 October.
To tell MP’s what you care about visit www.voicebox.vinpsired.com
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