--- description: MIT researchers have launched a 90 patient study on the therapeutic value of a moving, blinking, talking toy bear title: Watch This Robotic Teddy Bear Hug Sick Children in Hospitals image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch This Robotic Teddy Bear Hug Sick Children in Hospitals  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 4, 2015 12:50 PM CUT  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 4, 2015 12:50 PM CUT Huggable, a robotic teddy bear currently making the rounds at Boston Children’s Hospital, is part of a larger study on how interactive toys can alleviate stress and isolation. The New York _Times_ captured footage of the bear at one such patient’s bedside, and her reaction, scientifically speaking, is adorable. For more on the renaissance of chatty toys, see TIME’s [recent coverage](http://time.com/3901769/musio-robot/ "undefined") of a talking robot that’s vying for the title of smartest toy in the playpen. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3908247/robotic-teddy-bear/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3908247/robotic-teddy-bear/"},"headline":"Watch This Robotic Teddy Bear Hug Sick Children in Hospitals","datePublished":"2015-06-04T12:50:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:05:37.468Z","description":"MIT researchers have launched a 90 patient study on the therapeutic value of a moving, blinking, talking toy bear","url":"https://time.com/3908247/robotic-teddy-bear/","keywords":["Tech","Toys","AI","pubdesk"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3908247/robotic-teddy-bear/","name":"Watch This Robotic Teddy Bear Hug Sick Children in Hospitals"}}]}] ```