GetRobo Blog English

PARO Project to authorize robot therapists

 Dr. Takanori Shibata, creator of PARO the therapeutic seal robot, was in San Francisco for a brief visit and GetRobo was able to get an update on the latest of  PARO.

 

 According to Dr. Shibata, Denmark has started to accredit “robot therapists” that are trained and able to use PARO for treating patients with dementia, developmental disabilities and such. This “PARO Project” started last December under the auspices of the Danish Technological Institute and already over 200 robot therapists have been authorized.

 

 Denmark’s spending on health care for patients that suffer dementia is about 100,000 dollars per year which is over twice what Japan spends, according to Dr. Shibata. Denmark believes that PARO can help with the care of these patients and has already announced that that it will purchase 1,000 PAROs for use in hospitals and care facilities. (Photo below: A robot therapist and an elderly woman at a care facility in Denmark. Photo provided by Dr. Shibata.)

 “Every country has its own ways of caring for people and also different ways of funding so it’s very important that we find a way to localize the product and services to fit each market” says Dr. Shibata. Besides Denmark, The Netherlands and Norway have also started a similar accreditation system. Plans in Germany and Spain are also underway.

 

 GetRobo feels that Dr. Shibata and the PARO Project are cultivating an important part of robotics which is to build a social infrastructure for robots to be smoothly integrated into society. There are a number of robots currently under development that are meant to be used in therapeutics and they should all eventually merit from this effort.

 

 PARO is now sold in the U.S. through PARO Robots U.S. It costs 6,000 dollars each. Trials are starting in the U.S. too and here is one recent report on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Kenta Maru wins Robo-Cup Japan Open

 Hello Houston! Remember the MARU Family?

 Well, they continue to work with enthusiasm on their robots and this year 14 year old Kenta Maru has made a major win at RoboCup Japan Open 2010. He and his teammate Yuma Kutsumizu were second place in the RoboCupJunior Soccer Challenge and No. 1 in the primary division for ages 14 and under. And they will be heading to Singapore next month for the international RoboCup 2010 as representatives of Japan.

 Congratulations Kenta!!!!!  We wish you the best at the big competition next month!!!

 Here are some photos that father Naoki Maru kindly sent to GetRobo.

  Kenta Maru in the middle with team mate Yuma Kutsumizu and father Naoki Maru.

 Since the Marus' humanoid robots are mainly remote controlled, it was the first time for Kenta to challenge himself building autonomous wheeled robots.

 The Soccer Challenge is a competition for youths to design, program and strategize autonomous soccer-playing robots.

  

What's next for Foldy/Cooky/Walky robot creator Yuta Sugiura

 If you like robots, you must've seen at least one of these.  Foldy the laundry folding robot, Cooky that makes miso soup, and Walky the bipedal robot control system using the iPhone.

 Well, the creator of all three of these inventions is Yuta Sugiura, one of the rising stars in robotics in Japan. His main focus as a robotics researcher is on the interface between humans and household robots.

 GetRobo got to meet him while he was in Atlanta attending  CHI 2010. We talked about his research over dinner and I asked him what's next on his mind. His answer was the following.

  "Right now I'm interested in 2 things. One is to create a robot "concertmaster." A concertmaster is the leader in the first violin section of an orchestra and the role is to be the interface between the conductor and the instrument players. I play the violin and was a concertmaster myself. The key is to be able to communicate what the conductor wants to have happen in a way most understandable and efficient to the players. So the objective of my research is to develop a concertmaster robot that can become the interface between a person and the actuators."

 "The important thing is that I am trying to come up with a robot that itself is the interface. This is different from  developing an interface for a robot." 

 "The other thing I would like to work on is a household robot that is quite invisible - meaning that it functions for you without you knowing it. I have 2 separate images in my mind for this. One is the elf in the Grimm Brothers tale The Elves and the Shoemaker, where the elves make shoes during the night while the shoemaker is asleep. The second image I have is the Senju Kannon which is the deity with 1,000 arms. A robot arm that only appears and performs tasks when you are in need would be very helpful inside the home."  

 Listening to his ideas triggered a lot of thoughts in my head about the future of robots for the home. And I found this nice interview article on the Japanese web magazine moonlinx. It describes well where Yuta Sugiura's research is coming from. Moonlinx writer Takafumi Takani has kindly allowed GetRobo to translate his article into English so here it is. Enjoy!

- You received your master’s degree this spring and have moved on to a Ph.D. track. Can you talk about your work as a “robot creator?”

Sugiura: I’m a member of the Keio University Graduate School of Media Design (KMD), and also work as a research assistant for the Exploratory Research for Advanced Technology(ERATO) (which is a government-initiated basic research program). My main research area is in the interface of humans and household robots. I present my work at academic conferences and I also do demonstrations at shows like SIGGRAPH.

- What kind of research is that?

Sugiura: For example, a computer’s interface is its mouse and keyboard. A videogame’s interface is its controller. Even household appliances have interfaces, such as switches and remote controllers. Anything new in a household will require an interface.

However, currently robots can only be controlled by entering commands or by using videogame controllers. This is almost like bringing the movements of videogame characters into the real world. Using a videogame controller limits people to perceive robots as an extension of videogames.

There are studies being done on autonomous robots like Doraemon and Astro Boy, but it will still be a while until we start seeing autonomous robots living among humans. So my research is focused on how people and robots can coexist in the context of a household.

- What initially sparked your interest to get into robotics?

 

 

(Yuta Sugiura = far right = with his colleagues at SIGGRAPH Asia 2009)