In 2022, shortly after my mother moved to be closer to me in Denver, she had a health crisis that led to extended stays in the hospital and a rehabilitation facility. Once home, she had to deal with a new and changing set of medications as her doctors worked out what drugs and dosages worked best for her. Although I dutifully filled her day-of-the-week pill box and texted her reminders, to my dismay I discovered missed doses and drug mixups.What we needed, my brother suggested, was a drug-dispensing robot that would eliminate human error as well as the need for nagging daughters. Enter the Hero Smart Pill Dispenser.The Hero is an app-enabled device that dispenses pills on a customized schedule. About the size of a coffee maker, the Hero sits on Mom’s kitchen table, chiming and blinking twice daily when it’s time for her to take her medications and supplements. She pushes the big button in the center of the machine, and it neatly drops her pills one at a time into a small clear cup.If Mom doesn’t dispense the meds within 15 minutes, she and I both get notifications on our phones. Her calico cat, Phantom, whose treats are stored next to the machine, has turned out to be another fail-safe. When the Hero issues its alerts, Phantom gently but insistently pats Mom until she takes her meds and hands out cat treats.