Robot that shows pain could teach doctors to recognise it better

Can you recognise when someone is unwell just by studying their face? Understanding expressions can help doctors improve their diagnoses, but it's a difficult skill to practise. So a group of engineers have made a tool for training clinicians: a robot that can express pain. Many doctors already use robotic patient simulators in their training to practise procedures and test their diagnostic abilities. "These robots can bleed, breathe and react to medication," says Laurel Riek at the University of California, San Diego.