Atmosphere is electric as robotic baby arrives

A Torrance hospital held a baby shower this week for an unlikely addition: A 7-pound robotic baby named Simantha.

The $35,000 baby “born� May 30 will serve as an educational tool for students and staff members in the clinical skills lab at Torrance Memorial Medical Center. Simantha joins three robotic adults: Stan D. Ardman (a play on the phrase “standard man�), Brittnay and Jake, who is called Jessica when staff members use her as a female.

John Edwards, the clinical skills simulation technician who runs the lab and maintains the robots, was beaming like a proud father at the baby shower, he said. About 50 staff members attended the shower Thursday, bearing gifts and gift cards, which were donated to Casa de los Angelitos, a local crisis center for pregnant women.

Edwards, who creates fake wounds on the robots, will make Simantha more realistic for staff members and students.

“Babies are slimy and dirty,� he said. “I make them all goopy.�

Ann O’Brien, a hospital spokeswoman, said the 21-inch baby is lifelike. It hiccups, cries and even turns blue when it is in respiratory distress.

“It feels like a real infant,� she said.

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