Internet of things and electronics students at Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) have been busy in the institute’s Applied Robotics Lab on the emerging area of social robotics. Together they have created a ‘Lampbot’, a robotic friend, which uses software to work out how people feel and Google’s latest chatbot technology to assist where it can. What’s different about this student project is the have managed to create a robotic arm assistant that is socially acceptable in a home environment, by combining the physical build of a robotic arm and Google’s chatbot technology with a domestic lamp. It not only has all the answers but can also read human emotions/expressions and then respond accordingly with its own body language using its movement, eyes and head dress.