Caring for a child requires empathy, patience, dedication and all those other human touches, but as we zoom further into the 21st Century, technology is taking a more hands-on role in all our lives and artificial intelligence has real-world functionality. AI is already making Siri, Alexa, Tesla, Amazon and Netflix smart at knowing what we want to do, buy and watch; and developments in this field indicate that AI can also help humans care for children. Here we look at four innovations that use AI to assist with child care and early learning. Muse is an AI-powered mobile app that asks parents daily questions to help them enrich their child's life (e.g. 'Has your child eaten a serving of a new food today?').

Nami Hamaura says she feels less lonely working from home thanks to her singing companion Charlie, one of a new generation of cute and clever Japanese robots whose sales are booming during the pandemic. Smart home assistants such as Amazon's Alexa have found success worldwide, but tech firms in Japan are reporting huge demand for more humanlike alternatives, as people seek solace during coronavirus isolation. "I felt my circle became very small," said 23-year-old Hamaura, a recent graduate who has worked almost entirely remotely since April 2020. With socializing limited, life in her first job at a Tokyo trading company was nothing like she had imagined. So she adopted Charlie, a mug-sized robot with a round head, red nose and flashing bow-tie, who converses with its owner in song.

At kindergarten, 3-year-old Seven Kong has his schoolmates to play with, but at home his best friend is a kidney-shaped, lime-coloured android named BeanQ. The two spend hours together, with Seven peppering the robot with a continuous stream of questions. The green android responds with similarly simple words and phrases, alongside an array of different emoji facial expressions displayed on a large screen, which serves as its face. Recommended to the family by a friend, the android is intended to be an early educator, sharing some of the parental burden. "When we get really busy, BeanQ can be there keeping him entertained," said Seven's mother Liu Qian, 33, who is a work-at-home mom living in Beijing.

If you've been waiting for a price drop for Sharp's super adorable robot phone, your wait is sort of over. As of October 6th, you can get a RoBoHon for 138,000 yen (excluding tax) which is about $1,230. That's a notable 60,000 yen or $530 drop from the original price, but there's a catch: this new offering doesn't come with cellular function. Apart from that, this WiFi-only RoBoHon (SR-02M-W) is otherwise identical to its LTE counterpart (SR-01M-W), packing the same Snapdragon 400 chipset, Android 5.0 OS, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, an 8-megapixel camera (with 720p video recording), a 720p pico projector in the head, a 1,700 mAh battery and a 2-inch QVGA touchscreen on the back. It's unclear whether this more affordable RoBoHon will boost sales in the consumer market, but Sharp is certainly interested in pushing this model to businesses, including shops, restaurants, tourist spots and more.

Railway operator Keikyu Corp., electronics maker Sharp Corp. and two other companies said Wednesday they will launch a joint rental service featuring a robot-shaped mobile phone, mainly targeted at overseas visitors. RoBoHoN, released by Sharp last year, will be available to rent at Tokyo's Haneda airport from April 25. The handset can take pictures and converse with users in Japanese, English and Chinese, in addition to all basic mobile phone functions. It can also acquire location data and offer voice information on tourist spots in the vicinity, making a good trip companion, the companies said. "We hope that with RoBoHoN, users will have enjoyable trips and experience Japanese culture," an official involved in the project said.

Sharp Corp. has introduced a new mobile phone combined with a humanoid robot. The RoBoHoN robot phone, which stands 19 cm tall and weighs about 390 grams, will make its commercial debut in the first half of 2016, the Osaka-based firm said during a preview event Tuesday at CEATEC, Japan's biggest IT and electronics trade show, that will kick off Wednesday at Makuhari Messe in the city of Chiba. From the front, the device looks just like a toy humanoid robot, but its back sports a 2-inch touch screen. This panel works just like a smartphone screen, enabling users to browse the Internet and make phone calls. Sharp said the idea for the RoBoHoN emerged out of contemplating what would be the next evolution for mobile phones.

Since making its first public appearance last October, Sharp Corp.'s humanoid robot smartphone, RoBoHoN, has created a lot of buzz. But the eye-catching 19.5-cm-tall robot, which can walk, talk and dance but still works as a phone, has also left many people wondering why a phone and a robot should be bundled together, and what Sharp's long game is. As it turns out, Sharp is dead serious about the project. Officials say the firm thinks a robot phone could be the next big thing -- in fact, as big as the smartphone boom. The company is even envisioning a science fiction-like future in which everyone will carry his or her own robot phone that doubles as a personal assistant.

Sharp Corp. has announced the launch of a small humanoid smartphone that responds to voice commands and can project movies on a wall. Debuting May 26, RoBoHon resembles a robot and has a screen that reflects its cellphone ancestry. It is priced at 198,000 with an additional monthly usage fee, the Osaka-based firm said. "Sharp has a new vision of adding artificial intelligence to electronics products," said Yoshisuke Hasegawa, a Sharp executive. He said this merging of artificial intelligence with consumer products will be an ongoing project, dubbed "Kokoro" ("Heart").

The cutest robo-smartphone ever made is hitting shelves in Japan next month - but is it cute enough to drop almost 1,300? RoBoHoN (which translates roughly as "heart moving phone") is an adorable tiny robot, which doubles up as a smartphone. Or is it a smartphone that doubles up as a robot? Either way, the happy little bot is a surprisingly powerful piece of technology in its own right. Created by Japanese electronics firm Sharp, RoBoHoN is a 20cm tall robot phone. It'll read out phone messages, announce phone calls and even shout at you when it's time to wake up.

Japan's Sharp will launch in May a smartphone that's built into a humanoid robot. Or is it a humanoid robot with a built-in smartphone? The Robohon is said to be the world's first mobile robotic phone--and judging from the price and slightly unwieldy form factor could also be the last. It's 19.5 centimeters (7.7 inches) tall and weighs 390 grams (13.8 ounces), making it several times the size and weight of a conventional smartphone, and it will cost 198,000 yen, which is just over 1,800 and more than double the price of a high-end iPhone. But those shortcomings are more than made up in cuteness.