On a recent Tuesday, a four-foot tall, armless robot with a screen for a face rolled into a child’s hospital room and introduced itself.
“Hello, new friend," it said. “I’m Robin.”
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The robot then asked the child his name, favorite color, and favorite animal. The boy's face instantly lit up.
“A cat,” he responded. Robin's screen, which formerly showed eyes and a smile, switched to videos of kittens walking around and playing.
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Robin then asked the 9-year-old if he wants to play. The robot's screen gave him three options for games. The boy chose one in which he had to guess which cup had a ball hidden under it after they were swapped around. As they played, Robin congratulated his correct choices.
Standing in a blue hospital gown and purple gloves, I overheard as his mother say how it was nice to see her child smile.
Robin is a robot that lives in the pediatric unit at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester. The hospital brought in Robin back in October as a way to provide moral support to pediatric patients — especially those in isolation. On Tuesday, the hospital staff invited me to come "meet" the robot in person.
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Compared to other popular robots, Robin has a lot more skills than Marty, the Stop and Shop robot. It doesn't much resemble Wall-E from the Pixar movie — in fact, its white body looks a lot more like Eve from that film. But one thing seems apparent: it's beloved by the children.
