Handwashing Robot Helps Schoolkids Make a Clean Break with Bad Habits

Pepe the robot was wall-mounted near a handwashing station. It prompted children to wash their hands and provided positive reinforcement. The hand-shaped robot, dubbed'Pepe', is the product of a collaboration between researchers from the University of Glasgow in Scotland and Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University in India. Pepe was mounted to the wall above a handwashing station at the Wayanad Government Primary School in Kerala, which has around 100 pupils aged between five and 10. A small video screen mounted behind Pepe's green plastic exterior acted as a'mouth,' allowing researchers to tele-operate the robot to speak to the pupils and draw their attention to a poster outlining the steps of effective handwashing.