The prototype will be adapted to the needs of caregivers and the requests of children to be integrated into the care pathway. This is a world first.
“I am here today to get to know each other and present what I will soon be doing. My role will be to support the children during their radiotherapy sessions and throughout their treatment journey. I will be there to offer them reassuring presence, and make their experience less stressful” : Miroka, the humanoid companion robot, gave its first press conference, this Wednesday, October 16, at the ICM Val d’Aurelle, a center dedicated to cancer care, in Montpellier.
The day after the announcement of its arrival, as part of the MedVallée conference, the robot, at the heart of an experiment that will be unique in the world, was eagerly awaited.
From the height of 1.26 meters (for 27 kg) “the build of a 6-7 year old child”specifies Samuel Benveniste, co-director of the Parisian company Enchanted Tools, which developed it, the prototype has put smiles on the faces of caregivers faced on a daily basis with the distress of children with cancer, and their families .
Miroka will not perform a miracle, the prototype will gradually be integrated into the life of the service.
“It’s the project of an entire treatment course”
Four microphones, two 3D cameras, a battery that allows it to last eight hours of autonomy, on-board artificial intelligence, friendly face and soft voice… Miroka (or Miroki, for the male version of the robot), will be “educated” during his first months at the ICM, explains Professor David Azria, director of Siric Montpellier cancer (integrated cancer research site), which supports innovation, with robotics engineers from Lirmm and IES (Institut electronics and systems), interacting with the Enchanted Tools team.
The partners are united in an agreement signed this Wednesday. “For my part, the robots, I stopped at Grendizer”smiles the oncotherapist.
Midi Libre – S.G.
“We are not going to send him straight away for radiotherapy, that is the plan for an entire course of care. What can he say, what not to say, how will he react to what the children will say, in the rays? Miroka must first be able to welcome the children and accompany them. The problem with radiotherapy is that the child, and sometimes it is a toddler of 5 years old. , is left alone for ten minutes in a room where no other human can enter. He continues the sessions over a month. He is hampered because the dose of radiation is delivered to the millimeter. Despite all our efforts, some are very anxious. It’s hard to see these children cry under the machine. I hope they never feel alone again.”explains Dr. Welmant.
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“It was a dream, it’s coming true”
It will be a unique experience: “It was a dream, it is coming true. It has never been done in the world,” concludes the doctor, passionate, for his part, by the world of robots.
“Plus fort la vie” mobilized to finance
The robot would never have arrived in Montpellier without the mobilization of Bessanaise Sandrine Moustardier and her association “Plus fort la vie”, created following the death of her daughter from cancer, in 2014, at the age of 23 years. “Very moved”, Sandrine Moustardier, supported by Laeticia Halliday on this operation, is mobilizing to bring innovative projects to the ICM. Kevin Ortiz, a trader in Cap d’Agde, also a member of the association, was also very active. The collection, which reached 120,000 euros, finances the purchase of the prototype robot and the first costs inherent in the integration of the robot into the pediatric unit.
Each year, around twenty children are treated at the ICM, and around fifty are seen for consultation.
Miroka should be ready to meet them in early 2025, doctors hope. Ophélie Romagnoli, radio operator, is enthusiastic: “We can’t wait, it will be fun! The children come into our arms, cry, scream, it adds stress. The robot can be our ally.”
Midi Libre – S.G.
Samuel Benveniste, co-creator of Enchanted Tools: “Rehumanizing care”
“It’s an experiment” : co-creator, with Jérôme Monceaux (the “dad” of NAO and Pepper, educational robots developed in his previous company, Aldebaran), of the start-up Enchanted Tools, created in 2021, Samuel Benveniste remains cautious.
“It would have been easier to arrive with an immediately efficient robot, which perhaps would not have been adapted to the demands of caregivers”recalls the engineer, who worked for ten years in nursing homes, where Miroka and Miroki could also be deployed, work is underway with the AP-HP, in Paris: “The whole challenge is to achieve large-scale industrialization, which will allow us to sell a product at a more accessible price, at 30,000 euros”the engineer projects himself, hopes “approval in 2025”and announces an ambitious objective: “We are counting on 100,000 robots sold in the next ten years”.
In the meantime, it’s a “beautiful adventure that begins”from Paris, where the start-up employs around a hundred people. She will open an “open factory”, a place which will allow people to discover the world of robots and become familiar with AI.
And it’s not just a matter of machines, assures Samuel Beneviste: “We want a robust, useful, and social robot. We work with strong ethics. The robots are there to do all the things that people don’t want to do. At the AP-HP, it is tested in a department or positions are closed due to lack of staff.
The engineer takes the subject in reverse from the usual debates: “Our goal is to rehumanize care, and if there is a robot, there will be more humans.”
Miroka lives up to its name, in a non-literal translation from Japanese: “See the marvelous in the other”.
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