Pepper the Robot as a School Nurse: A New Approach to Healthcare
The “Dr. Pepper” team, comprised of developers from diverse backgrounds including roboticists, medical professionals, and software engineers, has developed a novel application for Softbank’s humanoid robot, Pepper. Their vision is to create a school nurse assistant capable of monitoring student health using advanced technology.
The team’s focus was inspired by the heavy workload faced by school nurses. Leveraging Pepper’s existing hardware capabilities, they implemented color recognition to determine a student’s pulse by monitoring facial blood flow and thermal imaging to detect temperature. This allows the robot to identify potential health concerns like fever or infection.
Dr. Pepper can analyze various indicators such as temperature, heart rate, skin redness, sweating, and emotional cues to assess a student’s condition. Using Watson’s AI capabilities, the robot can then prioritize patients, ensuring those needing immediate attention receive it.
Although Dr. Pepper is not designed to replace nurses or doctors, it acts as a valuable assistant, alerting human professionals to potential issues and providing valuable information. The team envisions a future where Dr. Pepper will be able to access and synthesize data from countless doctors, providing comprehensive, personalized information and assisting in diagnosis.
The project, still in its early stages, demonstrates the potential of AI in healthcare and the possibility of using robots to support medical professionals in diverse settings.
