Robot Confidant

A person described as robotic is unlikely to be approachable and easy to talk to. An actual robot, however, is both of those things according to scientists studying child psychology. In a small-scale study of fewer than thirty children, this cute little robot (pictured) was programmed to ask a series of mental health questions. Each child was alone with the robot and could answer the questions verbally or could interact with the robot via sensors in its hands and feet – the researchers and a parent or guardian observed from a separate room. In many cases the kids were more willing to share information with the robot than with an adult or via a questionnaire, perhaps because they saw the robot as toy-like and unintimidating. Whatever the reason, the finding suggests such robots, while not replacing trained psychotherapists, could be useful tools for helping children to open up and feel comfortable.

Written by Ruth Williams

Ruth Williams

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Ruth is a freelance science journalist based in the US. She's a regular correspondent for The Scientist, and her work has appeared in The Lancet, Nature, Scientific American Mind, BBC Focus and elsewhere. Twitter @rooph

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• Image by Rachel Gardner
• Research by N Abbasi et al, Gunes Lab, Department of Computer Science and Technology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
• Image copyright held by Rachel Gardner
• Research presented at the 31st IEEE International Conference on Robot & Human Interactive Communication