Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Paro, He's Anything But Your Average Pet Seal

For the past year my grandmother has been living with us because she can no longer live on her own. As an 88 year old women who is suffering from a severe case of dementia it is hard to imagine what she has been going through. Dementia is defined as a condition in which there is a gradual loss of brain function; it is a decline in cognitive/intellectual functioning. The main symptoms are usually loss of memory, confusion, problems with speech and understanding, changes in personality and behavior and an increased reliance on others for the activities of daily living (Royal College of Psychiatrists). It is not a disease in itself but rather a group of symptoms which may result from age, brain injury, disease, vitamin or hormone imbalance, or drugs or alcohol. A person with dementia may also exhibit changes in mood, personality or behavior.

Some days she seems happy and pleasant to be around then others she is angry, combative, and confused. The one thing I have noticed from my interaction with her is that she tends to fixate on particular animals she sees in pictures or stuffed animals that her great grandchildren bring over when they visit. Seeing someones understanding of everyday things start to diminish was, and still is, difficult to witness. Her fixation of the stuffed animals reminded me of a segment I had watched a few years ago about this revolutionary therapy break through that was introduced to elderly people, Paro. The idea behind this cybernetic "pet" baby seal is to have positive effects on the mental health of some elderly people.

There have been studies done in nursing homes in Japan as well as the United States and around the world, that show the benefits of Paro. Paro is an advanced interactive robot developed by a leading Japanese industrial automation pioneer. It allows the documented benefits of animal therapy to be administered to patients in environments such as hospitals and extended care facilities where live animals present treatment or logistical difficulties. This seal pup had been found to reduce patient stress and their care givers, stimulate interaction between patients and caregivers, and it has been shown to have a psychological effect on patients, improving their relaxation and motivation. Paro also seems to improve the socialization of patients with each other and with caregivers and it has been deemed the World's Most Therapeutic Robot certified by Guinness World Records.

Paro has five kinds of sensors: tactile, light, audition, temperature, and posture sensors, with which it can perceive people and its environment. Paro can recognize light and dark, can feel being stroked and beaten by tactile sensor, or being held by the posture sensor. Paro can also recognize the direction of voice and words such as its name, greetings, and praise with its audio sensor. This robotic seal pup can learn to behave in a way that the user prefers, and to respond to its new name if given one. For example, if you stroke it every time you touch it, Paro will remember your previous action and try to repeat that action to be stroked. If you hit it, Paro remembers its previous action and tries not to repeat it. With these abilities Paro can respond as if it were alive. Its head and legs move, it makes sounds, and is able to show the owners preferred behavior. With all of these impressive functions Paro's price tag is just around $4,000. I wonder , however, if the "pet" robots whose target consumer audience is children, not to mention much more affordable, would or could help lower stress levels, comfort people to an extent, or help with communication even with out all the sensory abilities that Paro has?

Caitlin Lavin

5 comments:

  1. I was pretty impressed the by the price. It is expensive but with all of the technology and research behind the product I figured it would be unobtainable for many people. Real pets have shown to improve cognitive ability and mood in all ages. The only down side to giving a real pet to someone who is elderly and is barely capable of living by themselves of course is the care they need and physical/mental capacity it takes to control them. Paro eliminates this and seems to serve all the positive aspects of a pet without the actual work part which seems like a great idea for elderly people who suffer from these cognitive issues.Great article, hopefully paro gets more popular.

    Patrick Salome

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  2. Sounds great, people suffering from cognitive impairments needs all the support they can get. I agree with Salome that it will be a good if this paro gets more popular.

    Posted by Anna Moreno

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  3. The "nervous system" of this robot are amazing. The fact that it can "remember" it's past actions based on the owner's behavior. I can see how Paro can affect the user's behavior in a positive way but would it really be practical for elders with certain diseases like dementia or Alzheimer's where there is degenerative damage done to the brain? I would like to know how practical this will be.

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  4. It's very interesting such an interactive pet robot has been produced by japan. We've all probably seen elderly relatives becoming more frustrated with their diminishing abilities. The elderly can also get lonely not being able to go out as much as they'd like and having their long time friends in the hospital or dying of old age. A robotic pet for some grandparents could be a great way to cope with many of the cognitive, social and motivational problems that the elderly have to deal with every day. I also agree with Pat on his comment that a real pet would be nice for some old people, but in some cases it's just unrealistic to think that they can care for both themselves and a pet. Along with this is that paro would be considerably more predictable than a real animal. Another risk of having a real pet as an elderly person is that they may trip you up or chew furniture and cause problems as all pets do paro would eliminate this and provide only the positive benefits of a pet companion.

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  5. It is true that having a real pet could have a great impact on anyone’s emotional state of mind. The reason I find Paro so interesting is because there are so many advanced features that this robot has that mimic a real animal. With that said, it is not a real animal which thus eliminates the negative aspects of owning and caring for a living pet. Paro creates a situation where pet care is virtually unnecessary therefore it makes that perfect companion for someone who would normally have difficulties caring for themselves.

    Caitlin Lavin

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