Robots which have memories and can interact with children are being developed by the University of Plymouth as part of a European project. The Now robots are being created as pets to interact and befriend children with long-term illnesses. The University is one of eight institutions across Europe working on the 8.3m Euro project over four years. Dr Tony Belpaeme from the University of Plymouth said: "The original prototypes were going to be rather simple, in the sense that they were going to play simple games with the children.