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December 2, 2004
Chatting your way out of senility
A woman chats with Japanese Business Design Laboratory's communication robot 'Ifbot' at the robot exhibition 'Robodex 2003' in Yokohama, suburban Tokyo. Japan's growing elderly population from will be able to buy companionship in the form of the Ifbot robot.(AFP/File/Yoshikazu Tsuno)
"This robot has in its memory several million patterns of word phrases that it uses when spoken to," said Takao Ohsuga, senior executive at Dream Supply, a Nagoya-based IT firm which developed the product's software.
If a person tells Snuggling Ifbot, "I'm bored today," the robot might respond, "Are you bored? What do you want to do?" To a statement, "Isn't it nice today?", the robot could say, "It is a fine autumn day," by detecting the season from its internal clock.
"By talking with this robot, seniors who are often alone can stimulate their brains and avoid becoming forgetful," he told AFP.
[1] "Japanese robot to chat lonely elderly out of senility," Yahoo! News, AFP Features, Wednesday, December 1, 2004, 5:12 AM ET. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/afp/20041201/lf_afp/afplifestyle_japan_041201101255
Posted by sjc at December 2, 2004 11:20 AM
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