Robotic Baby Seal ‘Paro’ Visits Bilkent
BY İSMAİL UYANIK (EE/VI)
On November 2, Dr. Takanori Shibata visited Bilkent for a talk and demonstration hosted by the Department of Graphic Design on his therapeutic robot PARO. PARO is a mental commitment robot modeled after a baby harp seal and developed for social welfare use, especially to assist in healing the sick. The robot was equipped with artificial intelligence and can develop behaviors gradually over time according to the attitudes of its owner, such as learning its name and responding when called.
At the beginning of his speech, Dr. Shibata explained the overall technology of the Paro. He said that "Paro has tactile, vision, audition, and posture sensors for gathering information from its environment and 7 actuators beneath its soft artificial anti-biotic fur for reacting." He mentioned that Paro has voice recognition and learning functions that allow the robot to change its character according to its owner. He also said that each Paro, like real animals, has a unique face that distinguishes it from others.
Dr. Shibata stated that the main objective of Paro is to bring a new perspective to animal assisted therapy. He talked about the current problems of owning animals, such as allergies, infection risk, and house regulations, and asserted that Paro is the best choice for those who have problems owning animals. He also gave some statistical results from some tests and questionnaires, demonstrating that Paro has been found to reduce stress in patients and their caregivers.
Dr. Shibata also talked about the usage of Paro for aging populations. He stated that there are some problems with elderly people such as going into depression easily, becoming housebound, having little contact with the outside world, and stress. Dr. Shibata said, "During our tests in some nursing homes, we observed how elderly people interact with Paro." He also said that there is a substantial decrease in the stress level of those patients in the nursing home who met with Paro.
After concluding his presentation, Dr. Shibata answered questions. Bilkent students from various departments showed their interest by filling the amphitheater fully and asking intelligent questions about the mental abilities and background research of the robot. On a question about the reason behind the choice of a seal as the model animal, Dr. Shibata answered that "Since the harp seal is a non-familiar animal, people can accept Paro easily without preconceptions." They are also awfully cute. At the end of the talk, visitors had the opportunity to interact with two Paro robots Dr. Shibata brought to conference room.