Each year on October 15, Global Handwashing Day is observed to strengthen the health awareness and prevent the spread of infectious diseases. And a hand—shaped robot called "Pepe", which encourages kids to wash their hands, has helped pupils at a remote Indian primary school to develop habits of personal hygiene (卫生).
Pepe was fixed on the wall above a hand—washing station at Wayanad Government Primary School in Kerala, which has about 100 pupils aged 5 and 10. A small video screen behind the green plastic Pepe acted as a "mouth", allowing researchers to tele—operate the robot to speak to the pupils and draw their attention to the poster outlining the steps of effective hand—washing. A set of moving "eyes" helped Pepe pay attention to the children's actions.
The robot helped pupils wash their hands more effectively, increasing their rates of hand—washing by 40 percent. Pupils spent twice as long washing their hands after Pepe's arrival. And more than 95% of the students could correctly determine when hand—washing with soap has to be done—before a meal and after a visit to the toilet.
Hand—washing is one of the most effective ways against the spread of diarrhea and respiratory infections. Dr. Amol Deshmukh, from the University of Glasgow's School of Computing Science, led the project in partnership with colleagues from Amrita University. He said, "We were delighted by the success of Pepe's visit to this primary school. The children were excited to interact with this relatively simple machine, which was clearly good for keeping their hands clean. Dr. Bhavani from Amrita University said," AMMACHI (Amrita Multi Modal Application and Computer Human Interaction) Labs have taken multi plans to address common challenges facing low—income rural communities in India and worldwide using technology."
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