--- title: "Hospitals Are Using iPads to Turn Robot Dogs Into Doctors" description: "Robot manufacturer Boston Dynamics has found a job for its robot Spot mini amidst the coronavirus outbreak: a teleconferencing platform for medical staff." date: "2020-04-23" modified: "2020-04-23" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/hospitals-ipads-robot-dogs-doctors" categories: - "Robot Dogs" - "Robotics" - "Robots and Machines" tags: - "boston dynamics" - "coronavirus" - "covid19" - "spot" - "spotmini" - "the digest" --- # Hospitals Are Using iPads to Turn Robot Dogs Into Doctors ![Robot manufacturer Boston Dynamics has found a job for its robot Spot mini amidst the coronavirus outbreak: a teleconferencing platform for medical staff.]() *\Image: Boston Dynamics\* Robot manufacturer Boston Dynamics has found a new job for its robot dog Spot Mini amidst the coronavirus outbreak: Modified Spot robots, outfitted with iPads, are now letting doctors walk into the rooms of coronavirus patients without risking infection. Hospitals have been asking the company for help with remote health. "Based on these conversations, as well as the global shortage of critical personal protective equipment (PPE), we have spent the past several weeks trying to better understand hospital requirements to develop a mobile robotics solution with our robot, Spot," the company wrote in [an update](). "The result is a legged robot application that can be deployed to support frontline staff responding to the pandemic in ad-hoc environments such as triage tents and parking lots." The goal is to limit the number of medical staff being placed in danger of catching the virus. "With the use of a mobile robot, hospitals are able to reduce the number of necessary medical staff at the scene and conserve their limited PPE supply," the update reads. A Spot Mini is already helping out at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital, where it's being used as "a mobile telemedicine platform, allowing healthcare providers to remotely triage patients." In other words, an iPad mounted to the top of the robot allows it to be turned into an ersatz doctor, as [pictures]() of a modified Spot suggest. Boston Dynamics is now trying to figure out how to add the ability to remotely measure things like body temperature, pulse, and oxygen saturation. With the help of a UV-C light, they're also hoping Spot could be used to kill viruses in a room that's in need of decontamination. **READ MORE:** [With the use of a mobile robot, hospitals are able to reduce the number of necessary medical staff at the scene and conserve their limited PPE supply.]() \[*TechCrunch*\] **More on the pandemic:** *[US POLICE TESTING “PANDEMIC DRONES” THAT MONITOR SOCIAL DISTANCING]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()