A team led by Dr. Sema Gül at Turkey’s Samsun Teknopark developed the “Digital Grandma” platform to support parents in caring for infants and monitoring their development, in an effort to provide specialized guidance to families who do not receive direct support from older family members.
Through an application for mobile phones and computers, the platform allows parents to send their questions about the child in writing or attach photos and videos of the problem they have noticed. The “Digital Grandma” team responds with information and guidance, with the option of holding a voice or video conversation when necessary.
Guidance on Sleep, Nutrition, and Skin Problems
Gül said the platform allows users to inquire about skin problems in infants by sending a photo. Parents can also request help with sleep patterns and record information about diaper changes and nutrition to receive assessment and guidance. The service also includes guidance on sleeping positions, according to the scope of use presented by the team.
The project also involves Professor Canan Şirin from the Department of Child Health and Diseases at the Faculty of Medicine of Ondokuz Mayıs University, with her clinical expertise, and Associate Professor Mehmet Türkoğlu, head of the Department of Software Sciences at Samsun University, in developing the software systems. The administration of Samsun Teknopark, led by its General Manager Levent Tanrıverdi, and the administration of Ondokuz Mayıs University, led by Professor Fatma Aydın, also supported the project’s transfer to public institutions and families.
What Makes the Platform Practical?
Gül presents the platform as different from artificial intelligence tools that generate direct answers, saying that the responses are reviewed or provided by specialists. She gave an example involving an infant’s temperature rising to 38 degrees, where the service is expected to clarify whether a doctor’s visit is necessary and what steps should be taken.
This makes the platform closer to a specialized health guidance channel that uses a digital interface to collect information and images, rather than an independent chatbot. However, the article does not explain the medical review mechanism in detail, nor does it specify the limits of clinical responsibility or how children’s data and submitted images are protected; these are important points before the service is adopted on a wide scale.
First Field Application in Kavak
The project team signed a protocol with Kavak Municipality to implement the first local application. Under the agreement, children between 0 and 24 months old in the area will receive monitoring for 24 months, with the platform made available to them free of charge. Gül says the service is available online from anywhere, but general access is subject to a subscription fee, while work has begun on solutions for those unable to pay.
The Kavak experience presents a model of cooperation among the university, the technology sector, and public bodies, allowing knowledge developed in the academic environment to be transferred to a local service aimed at families. The available information does not include figures on the number of users, monitoring results, or accuracy levels, so the platform’s practical value on a broader scale still needs to be independently evaluated.