At the Forefront - UChicago Medicine

Comer Children's patients use robot to see Field Museum's dinosaur exhibit

Comer Children's Hospital cancer patient Alexander Brown, 4, holds his new stuffed dinosaur while getting a tour of the Field Museum's dinosaur exhibit.
Comer Children's Hospital cancer patient Alexander Brown, 4, holds his new stuffed dinosaur while getting a tour of the Field Museum's dinosaur exhibit.

From their beds at University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital, two young cancer patients recently toured the dinosaur exhibit at Chicago’s Field Museum.

Using a tablet, Alexander Brown and Sawyer Hunter were able to steer a camera-equipped robot located inside the museum.

The boys, ages 4 and 9, were all smiles as they drove the robot to see different fossils up close, learning fun facts and impressing their museum guide with their dinosaur knowledge.

At the end of the 20-minute tour on November 16, each boy got to take a virtual selfie with the museum’s famous T. rex, SUE.

Comer Children's Hospital cancer patient Sawyer Hunter, 9, navigates a robot through the Field Museum during a private tour of the dinosaur exhibit.
Comer Children's Hospital cancer patient Sawyer Hunter, 9, navigates a robot through the Field Museum during a private tour of the dinosaur exhibit.

Comer Children's has offered the “tele-presence robot” since 2022 through the WeGo Foundation, which offers pediatric hospitals different museum tours as a way to reduce patient isolation and anxiety.

The robot tours are coordinated with Child Life by Tracy Lau-Esquibel, MS, CCLS, Technology Child Life Specialist and Special Events Coordinator.

Alexander’s parents, Christy and Matt Brown, are co-founders of Chicago's Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research. Click here to learn more about Alexander’s story.