PARO Robot – Lecture and Demonstration

Wed 29 Sep 2010, 2.30 pm
Conference room
10th floor of Ta Quang Buu Library Building
Hanoi University of Technology and Science
No. 1 Dai Co Viet, Hanoi

It’s not really art or culture, but who can resist a cute baby seal, even if its a robot?

From Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange:
A lecture on PARO – the therapeutic robot “Life innovation” by Dr. Takanori Shibata, the inventor of PARO.

PARO, a baby seal robot, is known worldwide as the most therapeutic robot holding the Guinness World Records. It has tactile sensors and responds to sounds and can learn a name. It can show emotions such as surprise, happiness and anger. It can also recognize light and dark, being active during the day and going to sleep at night. It has a calming effect on and elicit emotional responses in patients of hospitals and nursing homes, similar to Animal-Assisted Therapy.

The cute eyes and gentle movements of PARO attract many people. It is surely cute, but why not a cat or a dog? How does PARO work for therapy? Are there any cultural differences between Asia and Europe in the expectations of the usage of PARO?

In this lecture, Dr. Shibata, the inventor of PARO and Senior Research Scientist at National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Japan, will answer to these basic questions and explain details how PARO works for therapy, especially for elderly people and people at medical facilities, with the demonstration of 2 units of PARO. The audience can also enjoy touching and communicating with PARO in the final session of the lecture.

The lecture will be delivered in Japanese with Vietnamese interpretation.

Free admission.