Mumbai-based AI start-up Emotix launches personal robot for kids

The robot can hold long conversations, track the child's mood and is controlled from an app on the parents' smartphone

For generations, filmmakers have dreamt up stories of sentient robots as best friends, be it an R2D2 from Star Wars or a robotic sibling like VICKI from the popular 80s series Small Wonder. While a Baymax or Wall-E that saves the humans might not be commercially available yet, startups and investors are waking up to the market potential of robotic child companions for busy parents already.

Globally, a number of similar robots are in use for discharging activities ranging from home assistants to senior citizens and helping people with learning disabilities. In fact, in Japan, Softbank’s Mobile stores use a