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.

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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.