HEALTH CARE HAS A NEW FACE

HONG KONG• The Hong Kong team behind celebrity humanoid robot Sophia is launching a new prototype, Grace, targeted at the health care market and designed to interact with the elderly and those isolated by the pan-demic. Dressed in a nurse’s uniform, Grace has a thermal camera in her chest to take patients’ temperatures and measure their responsiveness. She uses artificial intelligence to diagnose a patient and can speak English, Mandarin and Cantonese. Grace can move more than 48 major facial muscles, and has a comforting demeanour. Hopefully, she’ll help relieve overwhelmed front-line hospital staff, said founder David Hanson. “A humanlike appearance facilitates trust and natural engagement because we are wired for human face-to-face interactions,” he said.