Vancouver-based Picniic, a digital platform that brings families’ activities and data into one single platform, has launched its virtual assistant, Pia.
Leveraging data from Picniic, Pia adds another layer to the Picniic dashboard by learning a family’s habits, anticipating a family’s needs, and making recommendations on how to stay on top of things.
Picniic said Pia can help families operate as “one cohesive unit” by keeping families’ calendars, to-do lists, recipes, and other features in one single platform.
“With the addition of Pia, we’re leveraging data, anticipating real-world problems families run into and providing intuitive solutions parents can actually use.”
“When we built Picniic one year ago, our goal was to make lives easier for families. With the addition of Pia, we’re leveraging data, anticipating real-world problems families run into and providing intuitive solutions parents can actually use,” said Michael Cole, CEO and co-founder of Picniic. “We know families want their households to be less stressful and more organized, and by making our family assistant more intelligent and interactive, Picniic has made the shift from a reactive to proactive platform for families.”
When it comes to Pia’s features, Picniic said the tool can search the family calendar to determine if a family is free next weekend, make recommendations on activities, and provide checklists for tasks like back-to-school shopping. Users can interact with Pia through quick reply buttons or voice, while Pia reaches out to users through text notifications that are accompanied with GIFs and emojis.
Picniic said its platform is available to download on its website, the App Store, and Google Play. While the tool is free, premium features like a meal planner or family locator are available with an annual subscription for the whole family at $49.99 or pay-as-you-go monthly fee of $14.99.