Anty, Autonomous Huggy Robot

From Vrije Universiteit Brussel Robotics & MultiBody Mechanics Research Group, comes an intelligent huggy robot for hospitalized children.

From the Anty website:
"Anty is more than just a toy, it is a intelligent and living huggy, having a personality of its own. Anty uses sensors for vision, audio and touch to interact with the children. By means of artificial intelligence, Anty is capable of understanding and expressing emotions."

Sounds like the rubber dinosaur from Ugobe?

But this is no dinosaur! It's a ... well, it's a... huggy robot!

It is more like Dr. Takanori Shibata's huggy baby seal, Paro.

via we make money not art: Huggy robot for hospitalised children