Gifu University’s Graduate School of Medicine in central Japan now has a new “sick” robot, geared towards medical students.

Keiko, which means ”practice” in Japanese, can answer questions like “How are you doing?”, by saying things like “I get tired easily lately”. The bot will be a great help for medical students practicing conversations with patients.

Keiko can also be used for examinations by touch, before doing the same with human beings, so students are better prepared to touch real patients. Keiko is specifically designed for training neurological disorders so that medical students can learn the ways brain and nervous system illnesses can be identified.

[Crunchgear]

iRobot is going to want a piece of this action. Students from Harbin Engineering University have developed a “sweeping staircase robot,” that won first prize at National College of mechanical design innovation and competition. The machine navigates the complexity of stairs and can accordingly can clean them. This is one of three that the innovative students have created. This third generation robot is perfect for cleaning any staircase. iRobot doesn’t have that bot yet. I’m thinking they will be eying this one.

[HLJnews]

The six-legged arthropod may not technically be a spider, but it’s spider-like. It can’t attack and hug your face just yet, sucking precious soul juice from your mouth, but it can track faces using a built-in webcam. The designers, high school students David Benhaim and Owen McGarry will be implementing the ability to walk very soon. We hear Tom Selleck got wind of this bot and has been tracking down Gene Simmons to make sure no crappy sequels are involved. Check a video of the bot in action below.
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