In a bright hospital room, a small figure with a glowing blue-violet four-pointed star head, a black domino mask and a plaster on one point sits up in bed in a patient gown beside a teddy bear, hands on its chest, cheeks puffed, taking a slow breath. On a tablet on the bedside table, a cartoon boy with spiky auburn hair, round black glasses and a red-and-white shirt smiles and shows it how, one hand on his chest. Pastel balloons and a window full of daylight behind.
Illustration.

Oliver stays in the room

A cartoon AI keeps children company through the hospital tests their parents can't stay for.

In many settings, parents can't be in the room when a child goes in for a test or a procedure. Dr. Mark Benden's team at the Texas A&M School of Public Health built someone who can: "Oliver," a cartoon-style companion that explains what's happening in kid-friendly terms, shows the child breathing and distraction techniques, and stays with them on a tablet, wall display or phone "from waiting room to recovery." Texas A&M has licensed it to a startup, Humanate.

"If the digital guide is friendly and calm, explains each step and celebrates their bravery, the whole experience changes," Benden said.

What they have found so far, from the university's September 21 report:

  1. Less confusion, smoother procedures. Early design sessions — a prototype, not yet a clinical trial — "suggest that a familiar face and consistent voice reduce confusion and help techs and nurses keep the procedure on track."
  2. The oldest patients liked its sibling best. Oliver's stablemate, an AI receptionist called Cassie that greets patients in more than 100 languages, including American Sign Language, is being tested at several places in Texas and Mississippi, where staff have nicknamed it "Rita." "We were especially surprised that the most glowing reviews came from older adults," Benden said.

"We're not building gadgets to replace people," he said. "We're building approachable teammates that take on repetitive tasks, so the humans on the team can focus on patient care."

There is no chaos, there is harmony.