CORVALLIS, Oregon — Here's something you don't hear a lot — peer pressure can be a good thing. At least, that is how it works in the robotic world.
Oregon State University robotics students and staff in the School of Engineering are teaming up with those in the College of Health to create robots that will help get toddlers moving.
The robots they created are called GoBots, which are custom wheeled, toddler-sized and foam-padded. Researcher Naomi Fitter said she and her collaborators created robots that might not win any beauty pageants, but kids don't care.
"We wanted to develop technology that can move around and engage people in a different way from other types of technology including: computers, phones and things children are familiar with — to get kids to be more active and move around," said Fitter.
The results most surprising to the team was how easily kids socialized with the Gobots.
"In one case, a child held up a play phone to the robot like, 'You've got a call, take the call'," Fitter said.
Other children brought balls over to the robot's perimeter and took them away, as if they were playing a game of catch.
In the child-friendly lab, researchers say it didn't take much for the GoBots, with their shooting bubbles, flashing lights and spinning parts, to convince the two to three-year-olds to get active.
"Sometimes, I'm just out of it at the end of the day, or I could use some novel element to inject energy in general into my parenting system," explained Fitter, suggesting the robots would help parents keep their children busy and learning.
The study's GoBots are not designed to replace parents or friends playing with kids but instead, they extend the ability to keep kids from developing a sedentary lifestyle.
"When the robot is on and moving, children move significantly more," said Fitter. "That's far as our reading could tell us from the overhead camera perspective."
An eye in the sky, watching the power of technology influence children.
Outside the study, researchers said this "child-friendly" technology can also help children with developmental delays learn to engage with others and start walking sooner.
