Earlier this year we reported on the Huggable electronic teddy bear designed by the MIT Media Lab to help hospitalized kids have more fun during treatments. The device seems to be a robot, but there’s actually a person behind the scenes speaking on its behalf and moving its arms and legs. It talks to the kids and helps them get through syringe injections and other scary and uncomfortable aspects of medical care.
The New York Times is now reporting that a study involving 90 kids at Boston Children’s Hospital will evaluate whether the Huggable bear is a beneficial tool in pediatric wards. A third of the kids will have access to the smart bear, while another third will interact with a video version of Huggable, and the last third will have a regular old teddy bear to solace with.
Here’s a New York Times video report on the teddy bear and the new study:
Flashback: Huggable Bedside Robot Outsmarts Even The Smartest Bear…