SimBabies are not inanimate Reborns — they’re robots built to train nurses how to save the day:
As a computer-controlled simulated patient,
or SimBaby, the rubber dummy “Molly,” looks, feels and acts like a real
baby. With the help of a computer, SimBaby can move, make a variety of
breathing sounds, cry, vomit, accept medicine and fluids, has a
heartbeat and can “die,” just like the real thing. “One of the goals is
to make the training more realistic to help build up that comfort level
for when nurses face the real thing,” Tollick said.
As the health meme propagates from programmer to robot to human hand —
is anything real lost in the translation? Or is the fakery of the task
just honest enough to be frightfully worthwhile?