A 4-foot-tall droid named Pepper — preprogrammed with hundreds of jokes — is one of two robots now working at a nursing home in Roseville, Minnesota, entertaining residents and helping monitor their health.
- A sample from its sometimes-salty repertoire: "I went on a date with a Roomba last week — it totally sucked."
The big picture: Household robots are growing in utility and ubiquity, and this latest use seems to blend two trends we've noted: The availability of humanoid robots as party guests and entertainers and their use as companions and health monitors for the elderly.
