China tests a cyber panda to provide emotional support

The cyber panda robot, known as An’an, has been developed to help elderly people, special education students, and others experiencing emotional stress. It was created through a partnership between XJTLU and Mind with Heart Robotics Co Ltd.

The project recently gained international attention after receiving recognition in the Artificial Intelligence category at the CES Innovation Awards 2026 in Las Vegas.

What makes An’an distinctive is its focus on what researchers call active empathy. Instead of simply identifying emotions, the robot aims to understand their possible causes and respond in a meaningful way.

At the core of this approach is a large multimodal empathetic dialogue dataset. This structured collection of data trains the robot to interpret emotional cues by processing multiple signals at the same time.

An’an analyses vocal tone, facial expression, and behavioral patterns to assess a person’s emotional state. The dataset also includes tens of thousands of extended conversations covering family life, education, social interaction, and other everyday situations.

By combining these inputs, the system can infer context. Silence from an elderly resident may be linked to loneliness, while restlessness in a child may reflect an overstimulating environment. Based on such interpretations, An’an can respond proactively. It may play nostalgic music if a resident appears withdrawn, or offer calm encouragement when it senses frustration.

Despite the robot’s advanced capabilities, its creators stress that it is not meant to replace human relationships. It is intended to support professional caregivers and help fill gaps in emotional care.

The project is now preparing for mass production. Although the United States is expected to be the main market, expansion plans also include the European Union and Australia. Early clinical trials for patients with dementia are planned in collaboration with several Australian hospitals.

Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that AI now hires humans for physical world tasks.