Gifu University’s Graduate School of Medicine [JP] (located in central Japan) has developed a new “sick” robot, which is specifically geared towards medical students.

Named Keiko (“practice” in Japanese), the robot is able to answer questions such as “How are you doing?”, i.e. by saying “I get tired easily lately”. The interactive humanoid robot, which has been jointly developed with Mizuno Technical Institute, is meant to help medical students practice conversations with patients.

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

Via Nikkei [registration required, paid subscription]