Social Robots are Coming to a Hospital Near You – Not Necessarily as a Doctor

A new study by researchers from MIT, Boston Children’s Hospital, and Northeastern University, shows that a “social robot,” named Huggable, can be used in support sessions to boost positive emotions in hospitalized children. For the study, published in the journal Pediatrics, researchers deployed the robotic teddy bear across several pediatric units at Boston Children’s Hospital. More than 50 hospitalized children were randomly split into three groups of interventions that involved Huggable, a tablet-based virtual Huggable, or a traditional plush teddy bear. Read more about the results.

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