My Special Aflac duck was created to be educational and therapeutic, with features especially designed to comfort kids with cancer. It has RFID-enabled emoji cards on its chest that allows patients to choose a "feeling" they want the machine to reflect. If they choose the frowny face, for instance, the duck wil lower its head, slouch and let out a sad whimper.

It also has a port with an RFID chip kids can use to pretend they're giving the duck chemotherapy. And parents can download the feathery machine's accompanying app for iOS and Android, where kids can bathe, feed and give it medicine. The company says those features give the children a sense of control during their treatment. In addition, the duck has a heartbeat and deep breathing features that can be used to calm the patients. While the current rollout only covers two hospitals, Aflac plans to expand its campaign to hospitals across the US later this year, providing newly diagnosed kids aged 3 to 13 years old with a robotic duck free of charge.