Mitra the robot helps coronavirus patients speak to loved ones

A hospital in India has deployed a customer-service robot to patrol its wards, connecting coronavirus patients with their family and friends.

Mitra’s eyes are equipped with facial recognition technology to help it recall anyone it has previously interacted. It’s chest is attached with a tablet to allow the patients at the Yatharth Super Speciality Hospital to see their loved ones.

“It takes a lot of time to recover, and during this time, when patients need their families the most, they are unable to visit,” said Dr Arun Lakhanpal, a specialist at the hospital located at Noida Extension, a satellite city in the capital New Delhi.

Mitra is mainly used by patients who are not able to communicate using their phones.

“We mainly discuss my health,” said Makhanlal Qazi, a retired government bureaucrat and coronavirus patient who has used the robot to communicate with relatives. “I came here on Friday and now I have started feeling better. I am feeling very happy now.”

Medical staffs and specialists who are unable to access the wards also use it for remote consultations with patients to reduce their risk of becoming infected.

“Normally it is very difficult for a psychologist or a dietician to see a COVID patient, the robot is very useful.” according Yatharth Tyagi, director of the company that runs the hospital.

According to Tyagi the robot cost the hospital 1 million rupees ($13,600).

It was developed by a Bengaluru-based start-up Invento Robotics, a company founded by Balaji Viswanathan, who has previously worked in Silicon Valley at technology companies such as Microsoft.

The robot also uses uses a handheld thermal camera to screen and evaluate possible coronavirus patients before sending them to healthcare workers.

Mitra, which means “friend” in Hindi, is best known for interacting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Ivanka Trump at the 2017 Global Entrepreneur Summit in Hyderabad, India.

India’s Covid-19 coronavirus cases has surged past 5 million, only the second country in the world to cross the grim milestone after the United States.