How The Pandemic Will Be The Game Changer For Robotics In India

The need for robots was never felt more than during this pandemic—for companionship, domestic help or medical assistance. The race is on to create more socially intelligent robots, and Indian players are populating the field

- Sneha Bhura

In a 2019 video, Kyra Kanojia—a child YouTuber who reviews toys—squeals with delight as she unboxes her Miko 2. The latest edition of this 'child companion robot' does not need constant app connectivity to function. Designed like a small and stout, well-behaved child, it can sing, dance and light up as you come back from school, and put you to sleep with bedtime stories. It can answer all your GK questions and help you prepare for exams with logical reasoning. It has Mikojis, where it identifies moods by sensing its environment. It can recognise faces, remember names and start a conversation, unlike Apple’s Siri. It is what they call an edutainment bot, a robot that will grow wiser and develop a bond with the child. Product videos, including Kyra's, invariably have children wondering who to play with as everyone around them is busy or unavailable. Suddenly they are gifted with a huggable, self-intelligent Miko so parents can go about their lives. A robot, parents seem to argue, is a better piece of technology around children than smartphones and laptops.