A couple of weeks ago Anne Tergesen from the Wall Street Journal called me to ask what I thought about “Paro the Baby Seal Robot.” It is a companion robot which is designed to contribute to the well-being of older people. She has filed her report and here it is…
I challenge you to watch this video all the way to end. (90 seconds)
Five years ago, a Japanese robot manufacturer introduced Paro to the world. Built to resemble a baby harp seal—with a plush coat of antibacterial fur—Paro was hailed in Japan as a pioneer among socially interactive robots, one that would help lift the spirits of millions of elderly adults.
Watch Japanese nursing-home residents interact with Paro, a baby seal pet-therapy robot.
It never quite caught on. “It doesn’t do much other than utter weird sounds like ‘heeee’ or ‘huuuu,'” says Tomoko Iimura, whose adult day-care center in Tsukuba City keeps its Paro in a closet.
Now Paro has come to American shores, appearing in a handful of nursing homes and causing a stir in a way that fake seal pups rarely do.
Nursing-home workers and academics who study human-robot interaction are trying to figure out whether the $6,000 seal, cleared last fall by U.S. regulators as a Class 2 medical device (a category that includes powered wheelchairs) represents a disturbing turn in our treatment of the elderly or the best caregiving gadget since the Clapper.
“Some of our residents need more than we as human beings can provide,” says Marleen Dean, activities manager at Vincentian Home, one of four facilities run by Pittsburgh-based Vincentian Collaborative System. Vincentian Collaborative recently used a $55,000 grant to purchase eight Paros and finds them especially comforting to patients with dementia. “We’ve tried soft teddy bears that talk and move. But they don’t have the same effect.”
Bill Thomas thinks it’s inhumane to entrust the task of emotional support to a gadget.
“If you give me a robot that helps perform mundane tasks associated with caregiving, such as vacuuming or doing the dishes, I’m all for that,” says Dr. Thomas, founder of the Green House Project, a campaign to make nursing homes smaller and more like regular houses. But “if we wind up with nursing homes full of baby-seal robots, the robots will be trying to fulfill the relationship piece of caregiving, while the humans are running around changing the beds and cooking the food.”
Jason Burton says
July 21, 2010 at 10:00 pmPARO is not a substitute for human or animal contact. That is not, and should not be, the intention of using one. Rather it is a therapeutic aid that can be used when real animals are not, or chose not to be!, available.
Like any intervention with people living with dementia it should be done within a person centred framework and tailored to the uniqueness of the individual.
We have used PARO very succesfully with SOME people in our Eden centre and it is useful addition to our supportive environment.
Jason – Alzheimer’s Australia WA
Dan Kuhn says
July 11, 2010 at 6:24 amI’ve seen Paro in action and have mixed emotions about this warm and fuzzy robot. Yes, Paro is too costly and no substitute for humans. On the other hand, Paro facilitates interaction between residents and staff. He seems like a cross between a nonthreatening pet and a cute stuffed animal. I have seen people with advanced dementia react to Paro in positive ways, similar to how one might react to a babe in arms. Others with less advanced dementia seem to think he is fun and understand that he is not a real animal. Paro serves as a “meeting place” for residents, staff, and visitors. Paro is a novel machine that should not be confused with actual human care. He is just one tool for promoting interaction.
Christa Monkhouse says
June 22, 2010 at 6:34 amMy friend and well qualified academic, Emi Kiyota PhD, from Japan, once said about this “device”: “Would you substitute a real baby with a life sized robot one?”. I guess not. Technologising feelings and relationships with robots will be short lived, but in a couple of years time we will look back and forgive ourselves, we just did not know any better. In a couple of years time we will be able to let humans do, what they do best, console, validate, respond, challenge, love and robots do, what they can do best: repetetive mundane tasks, data processing and many more. Right now even the European Union seems to be on the – well not so right track – with its “digital agenda”: Digital Agenda: European high-level panel consults on ICT solutions to help elderly to live more independently
A consultation inviting citizens, businesses and researchers to share ideas on how best to use information and communications technologies (ICTs) to help older Europeans live more independently, and more generally to establish new ways to put ICTs at the service of the most vulnerable members of society, has been launched by a high-level panel established to advise the European Commission on the functioning of the Ambient Assisted Living joint programme (AAL JP). The panel is chaired by former European Commissioner Meglena Kuneva. The public consultation is the first step towards meeting the target of doubling the take-up of independent living arrangements for the elderly by 2015 set by the Digital Agenda (see IP/10/581 ). The consultation runs until 1 July 2010.
Steve Hards says
June 22, 2010 at 12:21 amPARO hasn’t ‘caught on’ despite being around a long-ish time because the manufacturer insists on hand-making each one. Without mass production sales can’t keep up with the rather viral marketing that has been happening.
However, for a few dollars more, what about a Roxxxy ‘sex robot’ (or Rocky if one prefers) that is reported to provide companionship as well as ‘other comforts’? Will care homes pay out for eight of those to keep their residents happy?
For more info, see the report in Telecare Aware’s Robots in Care Roundup.
Steve Hards
Editor, Telecare Aware
Nich says
June 21, 2010 at 6:31 pmYes, because it’s the actual caring that needs to be automated as opposed to the mundane chores that robots are far more suited for. Gross.
Al Power says
June 21, 2010 at 12:57 pmSome people, particularly those who live with dementia, may latch onto a doll or stuffed animal, as it takes them back to a caregiving role that their environment no longer provides. When they make this choice, they find a way to cope with the loss of this important societal role.
HOWEVER, when people assume that a person with dementia will naturally benefit from such a basic interaction, and mass produce such animals without understanding each individual they are intended for (and whether they even like seals or that annoying squawking noise!), then they are missing the boat by painting all people with dementia with a broad brush that disparages their individual needs and desires.
And, as Bill and Jude mention, it becomes a weak substitute for true relationships and true caregiving opportunities that a human habitat provides.
Jude Thomas says
June 21, 2010 at 10:59 amScream!!!!! Take that money and invest it in humans. They are our best source of loving, human, caring companionship. There can be no substitute!