New hospital robot welcomes patients and shows them the way
After three years of development, a Danish-German research team has built and tested three robot prototypes at hospitals in Denmark and Germany. The humanoid robot HuGo can welcome patients, talk to them and accompany them to their destination.
When patients enter a hospital, they may feel uncertain about where to go and anxious about the examination or treatment awaiting them. A friendly robot could make their arrival easier.
This is one of the findings from HospiBot, a Danish-German research project led by SDU. After three years of work, the project’s researchers have developed three modular robot prototypes capable of welcoming and guiding patients, patrolling hospitals and transporting small items. The patrolling robot was developed by the University of Lübeck in Germany.
The robots have been tested at hospitals in Odense, Aabenraa, Sønderborg, Køge and Kiel.
- We have made the greatest progress with the robot that welcomes patients and visitors and shows them the way. It can detect when people arrive, look at them, greet them and ask whether they need help finding the right place, says Oskar Palinko, Associate Professor at SDU Robotics and project coordinator of HospiBot.
HuGo talks to patients
The humanoid robot is called HuGo. When patients explain where they need to go, the robot can point them in the right direction and offer to accompany them.
HuGo uses ChatGPT technology and natural language processing to communicate with patients and visitors. This allows users to speak to the robot much as they would to another person.
- Visitors and patients quickly adapted to the situation and spoke naturally with the robot. The hospital greeters who usually welcome and assist visitors were also very positive and quickly became comfortable with the idea of having a robot helper, says Oskar Palinko.
The researchers placed HuGo at hospital entrances and allowed it to meet patients and visitors. Approximately 300 people saw or interacted with the robot during the trials. The researchers remained nearby to ensure that the trials were conducted safely and that participants received the necessary information. The final data from the trials are still being processed.
More time for patients
HospiBot has been developed to perform practical, non-medical tasks. In addition to welcoming and guiding patients, the robots can transport small items and patrol hospital corridors.
This could free up time for nurses and other hospital staff who currently spend part of their working day giving directions, collecting items and carrying out other small errands.
- The robot is particularly well-suited to welcoming and guiding people and transporting small items. This could give nurses more time for patient care by reducing the time they spend on practical errands, says Oskar Palinko.
The robots could therefore benefit patients both when they arrive and later during their hospital stay.
- Many patients feel anxious about the treatment or examination they are about to undergo. A helpful robot can make their arrival feel safer and easier to navigate. At the same time, the robots can free up time, allowing patients to experience that nurses have more time to care for them, he says.
The next step requires a company
The three robots are highly functional prototypes, although they are not yet ready for purchase and integration into everyday hospital operations.
The next step will therefore require an existing company to license and further develop the technology, or the creation of a start-up capable of turning the prototypes into finished products.
- We are currently exploring different ways to take the technology forward. The project has shown that the robots can operate in real hospital environments and that patients, visitors and staff can quickly become accustomed to having them around, says Oskar Palinko.
HospiBot is funded by Interreg Deutschland-Danmark and has a total budget of almost EUR 1.7 million. SDU is the lead partner in the project, which brings together hospitals and research institutions from Denmark and Germany.