Companion robots have been with us for a few years
now, although the focus has been mainly in Japan. Ifbot was a white plastic guy
who could make himself useful and do things like taking photographs. He didn’t
seem to be much in demand after the first few weeks in an old folks home.
Perhaps R2D2-like bots are better as care-bots than in the companion role.
Animal robots seem to do better. AIBO, the dog-bot
and NeCoRo, the cat-bot both seem to be hits with kids. However, the ultimate
(at present) companion-bot is PARO, a baby Harp seal robot. It made top spot as
the most therapeutic robot in the Guinness World Records collection.
It may be the helpless look with the big “baby”
eyes, or its cries, but it always needs a hug and a stroke. It does well as a
companion-bot and has worked well in some old folks homes, and now has at least
35 users in North America. Most of these users are institutions.
The numbers of people who have interacted with Paro
is quite large as over 1,000 have been sold with about two thirds of these for
private use, so he/she is now an establishment figure.
A survey has been conducted by Shibata et al to see how people are getting on
with their companion Harp seal robot flopping around in their living space and
crying for attention (1). 85 people agreed to give their responses. 61 of these
were women and 22 were men and most of the owners were between 30 and 90-years
old (95%).
The owners all liked to stroke and hug their robot
as well as speak to him/her. The owners liked to say hello when they came home
and praise Paro for responding, as well as saying “good night” or “good
morning.” Many people who had kept pets previously wanted a brush and a collar
to keep their Paro spruced up and well decked out.
That Paro is a cute baby animal that they can’t buy
in a pet shop is probably a major part of his/her attraction compared to dog or
cat-bots. Also many of the owners could not currently own a pet because of
apartment living or some such constraint.
It appears that companion-bots that respond when
you hug and stroke them, who look and feel cuddly, and who respond when you
speak to them, are welcomed by all ages. What we need now is an fMRI study
coupled with measurements of the levels of hormones such as dopamine to compare
the therapeutic effectiveness of a companion animal with a companion-bot.
- T. Shibata, Y. Kawaguchi and K. Wada, Int. J. Soc. Robotics, DOI 10.1007/s12369-011-0111-1
