Embodied, Inc. Partners with the University of Rochester Medical Center and Golisano Children’s Hospital to Pilot Moxie With Pediatric Patients

Following the success of their partnership through the KidsX Accelerator, the University of Rochester, Golisano Children’s Hospital, and Embodied will launch an in-depth program to test Moxie’s efficacy in a hospital setting

Rochester, NY (October 20, 2021) -- Embodied, Inc is pleased to announce a partnership with the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) and Golisano Children’s Hospital (GCH) to develop clinical applications for Moxie in pediatric care. Embodied launched Moxie in April 2020 as a robot with machine learning technology designed to help promote social, emotional and cognitive development in children through everyday play-based learning and captivating content. Embodied and URMC first connected through KidsX, the largest pediatric-focused digital health accelerator in the world, where they partnered with GCH for a 13-week virtual program. The parties will continue their work together to test Moxie’s feasibility and efficacy helping children in a pediatric hospital setting. 

“Our vision for Moxie has always been to redefine the way machines interact with humans through fluid conversation and technology that positively impacts our everyday lives,” said Paolo Pirjanian, CEO and Founder of Embodied, Inc. “That’s why we’re excited to partner with the University of Rochester Medical Center and Golisano Children’s Hospital to pilot Moxie for pediatric patients. Medical treatment can be overwhelming and stressful for children. This partnership will allow us to better understand how Moxie can help enhance their experience in a hospital setting.”

The pilot, which kicks off in early November, will be completed in two phases. Working with the UR Health Lab, the initial study is looking to test if the use of Moxie by children and staff is feasible in a pediatric hospital setting. Then second will focus on the efficacy of helping diabetic children with adherence to their care plan. Admission for a new pediatric diabetes diagnosis causes stress to the entire family due to the lack of structured, developmentally appropriate education on the matter coupled with the need to quickly develop coping skills for finger sticks and insulin injections. Moxie will help facilitate fun, engaging education to patients regarding their new diagnosis, and will reinforce gamified coping strategies that can be maintained after discharge. The goal is for Moxie to increase treatment tolerance and adherence, reduce distress, and improve long-term health outcomes among these newly diagnosed children. The research will then expand into other areas including reducing the need for sedation for procedures like MRI scans to coping with pain and stress pre-and-post-operation. 

"We are very excited to be partnering with the innovative team at Embodied by bringing Moxie to our patients at Golisano Children's Hospital,” said Heather Reyes, M.D., M.Eng., Assistant Professor for the Department of Pediatrics and Critical Care. “This is an opportunity to use technology to meet children at their own level and we hope to bridge some of the barriers to our patients and their families accessing the best quality care we can offer.”

This will be the first study of Moxie’s feasibility and efficacy in a hospital setting and will set the foundation for bringing it to pediatric hospitals across the globe. For more information on Moxie please visit www.embodied.com.

About Embodied, Inc.

Embodied, Inc. was founded by veteran roboticist Paolo Pirjanian (iRobot, Evolution Robotics) with the conviction that the next big wave of technology will be driven by human-machine interfaces that are socially aware and intelligent. Embodied’s veteran team of technologists, neuroscientists, child development specialists, and creative storytellers have been entirely reinventing human-machine interaction to enable realistic and intuitive interactions similar to humans. Through extensive research, they developed a breakthrough technology platform, SocialX^TM, that incorporates advanced AI and machine-learning to support fluid conversation, body language, eye contact, and emotions. The first iteration of this technology is Moxie, an animate companion for children developed to help promote social, emotional and cognitive learning. Since launching in April 2020, Moxie has received awards from TIME, Fast Company, and Dezeen, and the content that it provides has become even more critical with so many kids remote learning and away from social environments for the past year due to the pandemic. Follow along @embodiedinc on all social channels: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Contact

Allison Bartella, embodied@thenumber29.com 
Correna Dolce, correna_dolce@urmc.rochester.edu