RICHMOND – There’s a new resident at Lakewood Manor, one of Virginia Baptist Homes’ retirement communities. Paro is by far the furriest member of the Lakewood community and he takes his meals through a battery charger, not in the dining facility.
Paro has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the “World’s Most Therapeutic Robot.”
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Paro is an interactive robotic baby Harp Seal, designed to provide therapeutic benefits to residents of retirement communities.
Also known as mental commitment robots, therapeutic robots are developed to elicit emotional attachment from humans, according to the creator’s website. Three types of effects are sought: psychological, such as relaxation and motivation; physiological, such as improvement in vital signs; and social, such as encouraging communication between residents and caregivers.
Lakewood is one of three retirement communities in the country to include Paro in its care team. The robot’s inventor, Takanori Shibata, senior research scientist of Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, has been working with health organizations in Europe and Japan since 2005, but is just now making his debut in the United States.
Paro’s effects are closely related to pet therapy. “Many studies show that interaction with animals is useful for people to relax, relieve mental stress and exercise for physical rehabilitation,” says the Paro website.
But why a baby Harp Seal – an unfamiliar animal native to the northernmost Atlantic Ocean?
Paro’s inventor explains that robots can be divided into four categories, according to the way it looks: as a human; as a familiar animal, such as a dog or cat; as a non-familiar animal, such as a seal, penguin or whale; or as a new character or artificial animal.
Robots that look like humans or familiar animals raise expectations that the robot will function much like its real look-alike – expectations that are invariably disappointed when differences become clear. Users often lose interest in interacting with those robots. New characters or artificial animals will attract the interest of some people but not others – and it’s not easy to determine what kind of person will find interaction with that kind of robot appealing.
Robots that look like non-familiar animals, on the other hand, typically attract widespread and long-lasting interest. While most people have never owned a seal or penguin as a pet, they do know something about them.
“Pet therapy programs help to increase relaxation, motivation, vital signs, socialization, and laughter and to decrease stress, depression, and loneliness in residents who participate in these programs,” said Susan Weirich, Lakewood’s certified therapeutic recreational specialist. “It is very exciting for Lakewood to have the opportunity to enhance the quality of our residents’ lives through the use of Paro. What a great tool for increased health in our residents’ lives on a daily basis!”
Paro has five kinds of sensors — tactile, light, audio, temperature and posture — with which it can perceive people and its environment. With the light sensor, Paro can recognize light and dark. He feels being stroked or struck by the tactile sensor or being held by the posture sensor. With its audio sensor, Paro recognizes the direction of a voice, as well as words such as its name, greetings and praise. Paro can learn to behave in a way that the user prefers, and respond to its new name. For example, if it is stroked each time it is held, Paro will remember the previous action and try to repeat an action that will elicit stroking. If Paro is hit, it remembers the action that prompted the blow and tries not to repeat it.
By interaction with people, Paro responds as if it is alive, moving head and legs, making sounds, and reflecting the preferred behavior. Paro also imitates the voice of a baby Harp Seal.