This robot can entertain children for hours without any adult supervision

The three-foot tall robot with "wide eyes, working fingers, pastel trimming, and a touchscreen tablet on its chest" showed off its babysitting skills at an annual robotics event in San Jose, California, the Guardian reported. The iPal is designed to act like a companion for children: the robot talks to them, answering general-knowledge questions like "Why is the sun hot?," and entertaining them with song, dance, and games, such as rock-paper-scissors. Jiping Wang, founder of Avatar Mind, which created the iPal, told the Guardian that the robot can keep children between the ages of 3 and 8 occupied for "a couple of hours" without adult supervision, touting it as a perfect solution to fill the time between when children return home from school and when parents get back from work. Madeline Duva, an adviser to Avatar Mind, clarified that "it cannot replace a babysitter." But, she said, in cases where you do need to occupy a child for a brief period while you, say, run to the store for some laundry detergent, the iPal is better than devices like the iPad, which are far less interactive than the robot.