China makes 'babysitting robots'

A robot the size of a child, can make you or watch over children for a short time, is being tested in China.

The robot is named iPal , knows how to move your hands, fingers and can communicate with your child through the chest-mounted touch screen. He can sing, dance, even play rock paper scissors.

Manufacturers have equipped it with 19 sensors and 25 motion controllers, allowing it to "talk " to children and send video links for parents to monitor their children.

IPal robot manufactured by Chinese company AvatarMind - (Photo: RT).

"IPal is not an emotionless robot, but a great companion for your child , " AvatarMind, a company that makes robots, says.

"IPal's emotional management system is very responsive and responsive to happy, boring and lonely responses. It is fun when your children are happy and encourages your child when he or she is sad," the company introduced.

AvatarMind's founder, Jiping Wang, thinks iPal can help keep children away from adult supervision for "a few hours."

The device was originally aimed at one-child families in China, and Wang said it was appropriate for children to stay home alone after school before their parents returned home from work.

He said robots were tested in China and "80% of children like it". The current obstacle is that it moves with wheels so it is impossible to climb stairs to look after children.

Estimated retail price is 1200 USD.

Wang said they have manufactured iPal in China and will sell it to users later this year with an estimated retail price of $ 1,200 (26 million dong). He also hopes to start selling this robot in the US in 2017.

However, according to RT, many people are concerned that using this robot to play / babysitting will have a negative impact. Noel Sharkey - professor of robots and artificial intelligence at Sheffield University even called this "horrible".

According to him, robots are very good educational tools for children, it inspires children to learn science and technology but can also affect children psychologically."Robots do not have the sensitivity or understanding necessary to take care of children," he said.

"The fact that parents are so dependent on robots to look after their children will disrupt their relationships and may make our society messy," Sharkey warned.