New robo-nannie can look after a 3-year-old for a “couple of hours”

Well, if this isn’t a sign of the times, I’m not sure what is — meet iPal, a rolling, talking robotic nanny that is babysitting children in China, and may very well be doing the same here in the U.S. in the near future.

iPal is created by AvatarMind, a two-year-young company that has offices in Silicon Valley and China. Per the company’s website, the bot is designed to be a welcomed, “full-time companion” for one’s child by combining a “cute cartoon outlook, fine craft work, natural language understanding technology, and cloud apps.”

“It will be your child’s best friend.”

So, how does the iPal work? Well, for one, it comes equipped with a super-sophisticated autonomous learning engine that allows it to remember preferences and interests. It uses this information to create a dialogue which, over time, improves the conversation it has with the child. All told, when the iPal has an established relationship with the child, it will reach a speaking language equivalent to that of a 4- to 8-year-old. 

In addition to language skills, the iPal is also connected to the cloud, so that parents can upload information that is of interest to the child.

The iPal has “many sensors to feel touch, listen to speech, and detect emotion”, along with an “emotion management system” that senses and responds to things like happiness, depression, and loneliness. So, when the child is happy, the iPal is happy; however, if the child is sad, it will offer words of encouragement to make him/her feel better. 

The iPal constantly takes photos and videos of the child, and sends these images and recordings to parents so that they can have a visual check-in on their child from wherever they might be. Additional apps include an alarm clock to wake a child up on time, weather reports to ensure he/she knows how to dress for the day, and reminders for things like washing one’s hands, feeding the dog, etc. 

And in case a child wants to see a friend while their parents are away, a Child Messenger app and video chat are included with the iPal, so that two children being babysat by iPals can play together, even if it’s from a distance. 

All told, there are 25 motors powering the 3-foot-tall iPal. It sits on four wheels and is equipped with a 6-inch LCD screen as well as a 3-watt sound system. It can answer a host of questions, and can even be used to educate children, going as technical as being able to teach younger children how to program. 

In an interview with the Guardian at RoboBusiness, AvatarMind founder Jiping Wang said that the iPal is ideal for watching children aged 3 to 8 for a “couple of hours”. He specifically cited the hours after they return from school, and mom and dad are on their way home from work, as being the bot’s most appropriate time to be used. 

Pricing is not available yet; AvatarMind did state, though, that it hopes to bring the bot to the U.S. by next year.

Via Mashable