Meet Robin, the Kid-Sized Robot Helping Patients Stay Calm in Hospitals and Dental Clinics

Key points

• Robin, a socially assistive robot built by Glendale, California-based Expper Technologies, is currently deployed in roughly 30 hospitals, dental clinics, and adult care facilities.
• The robot has no arms and interacts entirely through speech, using a mix of artificial intelligence and human operators working behind the scenes.
• Expper sold its first robot to a Los Angeles dental clinic in early 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Around 10 new deployments are already planned, according to Expper co-founder Davit Martirosyan.
• A UCLA Children's Hospital pilot studied how the robot helps children manage anxiety during medical visits.

Robin is about the size of a small child. It rolls on a wheeled base, has a friendly face, and carries no arms or hands. Everything it does, it does through conversation.

That turns out to be enough.

What does Robin actually do in a hospital?

Robin keeps patients calm by talking with them, playing games, and acting as a non-judgmental companion while they wait for procedures or deal with the stress of being in a medical setting.

In dental clinics, Robin typically stays in one spot in the waiting room. It tells children what to expect from an upcoming procedure, sometimes framing it as something Robin has been through itself. The goal is distraction and comfort, not instruction.

Hospitals give Robin more room to roam. Staff can guide the robot toward specific patients and feed it small personal details, such as a child's favourite film, so the conversation feels less generic.

One early case stuck with Expper's team. A child had refused to eat for two days. Doctors and parents were out of ideas. Robin rolled in, played with the child for about 15 to 20 minutes, then told the child it needed to go charge its battery. "You also need to charge yourself. You need to eat," the robot said. The child ate.

Who is actually controlling Robin?

Robin is not fully autonomous. An Expper teleoperator, a remote human staff member who monitors and guides the robot in real time, watches over hospital deployments as Robin moves through hallways. If the robot loses its connection entirely, it is programmed to stop moving immediately.

Hospitals also assign their own staff members to act as on-site guides, telling Robin where to go and sharing relevant patient information.

"In most situations, AI can handle everything," Martirosyan told The Robot Report. "If it's something that goes out of that scope, Expper can help Robin to figure that out."

That human backstop matters. Robin operates in busy, unpredictable environments where a fully automated system could easily go wrong.

Should patients or parents be worried about a robot talking to their child?

There are real questions worth asking, but Expper has five years of live hospital experience behind the product now. The company is transparent that human operators are involved. Robin is not pretending to be a doctor or offering medical advice.

Martirosyan is careful about what Robin should be. "They definitely cannot be their friends; they are not human. They also can't be just another gadget. It's something in the middle," he said.

For parents, the honest takeaway is straightforward: if a facility offers Robin as a waiting-room companion for your child, ask what the human oversight looks like. A good answer should not take long.

Common questions

Does Robin replace nurses or care staff?

No. Robin is designed to support healthcare teams, not substitute for them. Hospital staff assign it tasks, share patient details with it, and monitor what it does.

Can adults interact with Robin too?

Yes. Expper originally focused on children, but found that adults, including patients in eldercare homes, were also interested in talking with the robot. The company has since expanded its deployments to include adult care facilities.

How does Robin know what to say?

Robin uses AI software to handle most conversations, with a human Expper operator available to step in when the situation goes beyond what the software can manage on its own. Staff can also give Robin specific information about a patient beforehand.