When I was a kid we used to watch The Jetsons cartoon as to what life would look like in the future. Rosey the robot handled most of the Jetsons needs including child care. Could that be here soon?
Researchers at Oregon State University put toddlers in a room with a basic robot that looks like a modified roomba vacuum. It can throw balls and blow bubbles.
All the kids loved it! Kids were much more active when the robot was moving around the room and keeping the kids involved. For young children, the authors say, physical activity contributes to cognitive, social and motor development and also sets the stage for better psychosocial and cardiometabolic health later on, serving as a foundation for the potential of a lifetime of healthy habits.
There can be periods of development during which it is hard to know how best to engage with your toddler," Fitter said. "The work in our paper could lead to new robotic toys that families could play with together to help fill those gaps."
Researchers say the goal is not to replace caregivers with robots, but to give them a tool that can engage with children. It could also be used with older adults.
Could the robot replace babysitters in the future? "We can program the robots to bring food to the child at a certain time and of course they would know what time the child is supposed to go to bed, but we're still a ways off on a simple robot being able to recognize a health emergency like choking or having the ability to perform a Heimlich maneuver. I think that would be a good goal for 5-10 years for now.