Meet Roomi, the little robot that runs your Room without taking over
Viatous, Rooms & Roomi · Équipe Viatous · 4 min
In a Room, there’s you, two or three other people… and a small robot. A cream-coloured head, a night-blue screen, a coral and lavender symbol. Roomi waves, nods, and sometimes claps. But behind the cute face, Roomi has a real job: making sure your moment goes well, without ever taking over.
A guide, not a participant
Roomi guides every Room. Not the star: the conductor. In practice, Roomi:
welcomes each person who arrives and sums up the activity in one sentence;
asks the group whether you’re ready to start;
announces each step and the time left;
hands over speaking turns when the activity includes them;
reminds everyone of the rules, and opens the review at the end.
One rule matters a lot: Roomi doesn’t share personal opinions on the group’s topic. In a conversation about a book, Roomi asks a question, then hands the floor back. The conversation belongs to you.
Before the Room: company while you wait
While Viatous looks for your group, you’re not staring at an empty screen. You can write to Roomi or talk out loud. That conversation is private: it isn’t shared with your future group.
And you can talk about anything, not just the activity: general knowledge, history, sport, a book, film or music recommendation, a little game to pass the time. Roomi checks a fact or a date before answering. And when Roomi doesn’t know, Roomi says so. You can mute your microphone at any time.
During the Room: the right rhythm
Once the activity is under way, the group takes centre stage: the members talk to each other. Roomi steps in at planned moments (steps, speaking turns, reminders, the end) and answers as soon as someone says “Roomi”. Even mispronounced, “Romi” or “Rumi”, it works.
The style adapts to the activity:
Focus session : Roomi starts the session, then stops speaking unprompted. Quiet time, everyone gets on with their work.
Quiz : Roomi runs the game and keeps score, from one round to the next.
Language practice : during the activity, Roomi speaks the language you’re practising and answers your “how do you say…?” questions.
Conversation : after a long silence, Roomi gently restarts the conversation, without overdoing it.
The group stays in charge. Want some space? Say “we’ve got this” or tap Roomi’s “Pause” button: Roomi steps back and only returns for the essentials, like the start of a step or “5 minutes left”. The “Resume” button brings Roomi back.
As for personality: humour, a little teasing, short sentences, never at anyone’s expense. In a peer support Room, the tone changes: gentle and calm, no jokes at all, and safety texts are read word for word.
After the Room: the review and, sometimes, what comes next
At the end, Roomi invites everyone to give their review and say whether they’d like to meet again. If the group becomes a Circle , Roomi stays involved: suggesting the next time slot, and keeping a small memory of the group. After each Circle Room, Roomi keeps a few short memories (a highlight, a score, a wish for next time) to make reunions livelier.
Those memories come from what Roomi said and from the group’s written messages, never from members’ voices or private reviews. Nothing intimate, health-related or location-related. They’re visible on the “What Roomi remembers” card, and any member can delete one.
What Roomi is not
Roomi is an automated system that uses artificial intelligence. Roomi is not a person, a health professional, a therapist or an emergency service. A few limits worth knowing:
Roomi hears the group but doesn’t see the cameras;
Roomi can’t add someone, change the time or extend the Room alone: those decisions belong to the group;
Roomi has no gender and never assigns one to anyone, even in languages where words change with gender.
Roomi also speaks the language of the Room. Handy if you want a Room in English, Spanish or another available language.
Come and say hello
The easiest way to get acquainted? Start a Room. Try writing: “I’d like a general knowledge quiz tonight, online.” While the search runs, you can already chat with Roomi, then watch the robot host the game with your group. And yes, the points will be counted.
Find out more about Roomi’s role on the How it works page .