The cancer ward at Seattle Children's Hospital will be overrun with cats tomorrow. Lots and lots of cats.
This cat at the Humane Society of Dallas Texas is resting up in preparation for a big day of play tomorrow.
(Credit: Video screenshot by Leslie Katz/CNET)
Normally, this would be extremely problematic in a sterile medical environment, but not in this case. Young cancer patients with immunities too low to participate in pet therapy will get to physically connect with the felines via an interactive online playroom. Rabbits, puppies, and goats too.
They'll be doing so via a live interface set up by Seattle Children's and Boise, Idaho-based Reach-in, which created the interactive technology that lets remote viewers control fluffy robotic cat toys in real time. It's not the same as holding a furry friend, but it might be the next best thing for these kids, some of whom must remain in total isolation while they battle cancer.
"That's why this project is so neat and special -- it will allow for pet interactions with a variety of animals in a way that is fun, safe, and is personal for them," Helen Kathryn Sernett of the Seattle Children's Hospital Foundation said in a statement. Open Lab Idaho, a community of hackers and makers, also helped set up the project.
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