CarbonMeta Technologies Inc (COWI)

[SPIN]

old weisel at it again... the "local robotics guru."


Jack Hardman/Special the The News-Press
Paro has his battery charged after making the rounds with residents of Shell Point.

mechanical marvel: paro is the perfect pal
Japanese creator visits Shell Point

By By Tim Engstrom
[e-mail]

Originally posted on February 13, 2008

The words "cuddly" and "robot" may be an awkward match, but no one tells that to Paro the robotic seal as they scratch his furry white head.

Paro is the creation of Takanori Shibata, a senior research scientist with the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Japan.

The 2-foot-long, 6-pound robot and Shibata are visiting Lee County this week to promote the robots as therapeutic aids to the elderly and ill.

Shibata said people that interact with the robot tend to be cheered up, motivated and talkative, just like those who care for animals.

"We know that caring for animals is very good for humans, but some people aren't able to care for animals and there are places you can't keep animals," Shibata said. "But Paro is easy."

The robot's power charge even comes from a plugged-in pacifier. Paro is an abbreviation of the Japanese pronunciation of personal robot.

Shibata on Tuesday took Paro to visit residents of the Larsen Pavilion skilled nursing facility at the Shell Point Retirement Community south of Fort Myers.

After Shibata introduced his creation, he was quickly passed from lap to lap among the residents.

As they scratched the robot's head, the robot arched its back to look them in the eye. If they scratched one side of its neck or the other, it would turn its head to make the reach easier. All the while, the robot whimpered and cooed like the baby Harp seal it is modeled after.

"I thought he was very, very cute," said resident Jan Rogowskey, 82.

The emotions that the robot elicits are why Shibata refers to his creation as a "mental commitment robot." People tend to instinctually believe in it and be affectionate to it.

Shibata said he modeled the robot after a seal because people think they are cute, but have little personal experience with them.

He also created a robotic cat, but people didn't respond to it like they do the seal.

"People know about real cats, so they expect too much from the robot," he said. "They say 'that's not right.'"

About 1,000 of the seals have been sold in Japan for about $3,500 each. About 70 percent of them have been sold to individuals who tend to them as if they were pets.

There is no widespread distribution in the U.S., but that is something that local robotics guru Walter Weisel would like to change.

"When Dr. Shibata was describing Paro, I noticed some people were napping," Weisel said. "When he started letting them hold it, no one was sleeping. They all were watching and asking for their turn."

Weisel, former chairman of Innova Robotics and Automation, is now chief executive officer of International Business Link, promoting personal robotics.

He also has visits planned for Shibata this week at Lee Memorial HealthPark and Florida Gulf Coast University.

Linda Hicks, an activities leader at the Pavilion, said she was impressed with how residents reacted to the robot.

"I saw some smiles on some residents' faces today that aren't easy to pull out of them," she said.

Karen Woods, a graduate nursing student who helped arrange the visit to Shell Point, said she thinks the cuddly device has real value.

"It's definitely therapeutic for the residents here at Shell Point or other nursing facilities," said Woods, who is studying geriatric psychiatry.

Woods' parents, Charles and Bobbie Greer, who live elsewhere at Shell Point, were on hand for the demonstration.

"The eyes are so real," Bobbie Greer, 84, said.

But Charles Greer, 85, a retired electrical engineer, was more interested in the twin, 32-bit computer processors and electric motors beneath the artificial fur.

"It's fantastic in that aspect," he said.

Shibata said the robots have an expected "lifespan" of 10 to 20 years and there are Paro clinics in Japan for regular tune-ups.

http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080213/BUSINESS/802130349/1014

http://www.waltweisel.com