Boston Dynamics' Spot the robot dog remotely measuring patients' vitals amid coronavirus pandemic

Spot the robot dog is ready to see you now for your contact-free vitals. Researchers from MIT and Brigham and Women's Hospital are exploring a new way to lower the risk for health-care workers amid the coronavirus pandemic -- by using Boston Dynamics' Spot the robot dog to remotely measure patients' vital signs. "In robotics, one of our goals is to use automation and robotic technology to remove people from dangerous jobs," Henwei Huang, an MIT postdoctoral researcher, said in a statement. "We thought it should be possible for us to use a robot to remove the health-care worker from the risk of directly exposing themselves to the patient." Using four cameras mounted on the dog-like robot, the researchers have shown that they can measure skin temperature, breathing rate, pulse rate and blood oxygen saturation in healthy patients.