Why are we spending billions of dollars trying to make a robot smile...?

Question

Instead of spending billions of dollars trying to make a robot save somebodies life?

The purpose of the smiling robot is to confort people in hospitals. I don't know about you, but if I saw a robot smile at me after I just got gored by a violin bow, it wouldn't make me feel any better, I'd just think "Wow, they stretched some fake skin over a few motors after spending billions of dollars to do that. I need some more pain killers..."

Answer 1

They're trying to make them more humanlike. We already have bots that can save lifes (umnanned ROVS and bomb defusers).

If you haven't known, the lack of company in nursing homes/hospitals are the main causes of depression and post traumatic disorder, especially in younger or elderly patients. Having robots to do some chores for them and comfort them is a major step ahead for robot development.

Answer 2

We are attempting to create robotic devices which can mimic human expressions and thus be deemed more acceptable as a human substitutes for certain types of labor intensive jobs which humans don't want or need to do.