机器人解决老龄化问题

　　“有一次，找遍所有地方也找不到保罗”，日本南砺市一家护理中心的工作人员说，“最终，我在一位病人的床上找到了这个小家伙。”不过请不要误会，保罗并不是小狗和小猫的名字，它是一只张满白毛的机器狗。这种类型的机器狗在12年前由日本国家高等工业科学研究所开发，当时的开发成本达到1000万美元。


　　\"One time, I could not find Paro and was looking for [him] all over the place,\" says one caretaker at the Kirara nursing home in Japan's Nanto City. \"Finally I found Paro sleeping in one of the patient's beds.\" No, Paro isn't a pet dog or cat. Rather, Paro is a robotic baby seal--replete with white fur--that was developed over 12 years at a cost of some $10 million by Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology.


　　“有一次，找遍所有地方也找不到保罗”，日本南砺市一家护理中心的工作人员说，“最终，我在一位病人的床上找到了这个小家伙。”不过请不要误会，保罗并不是小狗和小猫的名字，它是一只张满白毛幕?鞴贰Ｕ庵掷嘈偷幕?鞴吩?2年前由日本国家高等工业科学研究所开发，当时的开发成本达到1000万美元。


　　据美国《福布斯》杂志网站近日报道，这种名为“保罗”的机器看护动物整合了人类语音和护理方式，如今已经成为众多老人心目中实实在在的家庭一员。在日常的看护工作中，一些护士甚至发现老人们把这些可爱的小家伙充满怜爱地放在自己的毯子下边，更有趣的是，有些老人还用自己的蛋糕和饼干去喂这些小家伙，当然机器人是不会进食的。


　　南砺市是日本一个老龄化程度很高的城市，老龄人口比例占总人口的26％，同时也是世界上第1个利用机器人解决老龄人口护理问题的城市。据统计，如今的日本已经成为世界上老龄化人口比例最高的国家之一，预计到2010年底，将有28％的公民年龄超过65岁，而同时参加老龄人群护理工作的年轻人数量却越来越少，因此机器伴侣似乎成为了最理想的解决方案。然而，机器人能够承担起重担，妥善解决老人身体健康和心理愉悦的双重责任如今仍然存在广泛的争议。


　　虽然目前有关机器看护的研究在数量和范围上还十分有限，不过大部分人都觉得它更像是电子宠物——老龄人群中的电子宠物。美国印第安那州立大学人类动物关系研究院科学家阿伦·贝克，曾经做过一项有关“爱比”的调查，“爱比”是索尼公司开发的一款电子狗宠物，这项研究主要针对那些生活在孤立环境中的老年人，观察电子宠物的加入是否能提高他们的生活质量。


　　结果表明，受访者在拥有爱比的陪伴之后都感觉非常舒适，孤独感也减轻了许多。一位93岁的老人表示：“在护理中心中，我把大量的时间给了我和我的小宝贝，我交给它许多真正小狗能够学会的小表演项目。我十分想和它相处更长一段时间。”研究表明，和机器人之间的互动交流有助于缓解压力，驱散沮丧情绪。新型的电子宠物的功能更为强大，甚至已经超越了传统意义上的伴侣。它们可以管理老年人的日常生活、提醒他们按时吃药。它们还可以用作通讯工具，为用户提供无线语音和视频连接，与远方的朋友和家人进行交流。

　\"One time, I could not find Paro and was looking for [him] all over the place,\" says one caretaker at the Kirara nursing home in Japan's Nanto City. \"Finally I found Paro sleeping in one of the patient's beds.\"


　　No, Paro isn't a pet dog or cat. Rather, Paro is a robotic baby seal--replete with white fur--that was developed over 12 years at a cost of some $10 million by Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. Nanto City, a centrally located Japanese city with an elderly population that comprises 26% of its total residents, is one of the first municipalities in the world to experiment with using robots to help care for the elderly.


　　Anecdotal reports are encouraging. According to the nursing staff, Paro, which responds to human voices and caresses, has become part of the family. In fact, nurses often find elderly patients covering the robot in blankets and trying to feed it cake or other snacks, despite the fact that Paro can't really eat.


　　Given Japan's fascination with gadgets, perhaps it's no surprise that the country is turning to technology for help with one of its most vexing problems: an aging population. Japan is one of the oldest countries in the world, with a full 28% of the population expected to be 65 years or older by 2010, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Fewer young people translate into a shortage of caretakers. The hope is that robotic companions can ease some of the burden.


　　But whether robots can adequately handle this responsibility--positively impacting both the health and well-being of the elderly--remains an open question.


　　Though studies are limited in number and scope, most have likened the potential role of robots among seniors to that of live pets. One such study, funded by the National Science Foundation, was conducted in senior residential facilities near Indiana's Purdue University. Alan Beck, director of the Center for the Human-Animal Bond at Purdue's School of Veterinary Medicine and a principal investigator in the study, says they placed Aibo, a robotic dog made by Sony, in the homes of isolated senior citizens to determine whether the robotic pet can improve quality of life.


　　Though the final results have not yet been published, preliminary conclusions indicate that the robotic dog is treated much like a family pet, eliciting behaviors commonly associated with companionship, including sharing thoughts and feelings. Beck says participants felt more comfortable and less lonely with Aibo, which means \"pal\" in Japanese.


　　\"Being in a nursing home by myself, I entertained myself for many hours playing with this dog, getting him to do new tricks,\" says study participant Louise Crooks, 93. \"I would have liked to keep him longer.\"


　　Dr. Takanori Shibata, the creator of Paro, has found similar results. Shibata and his colleagues found that robot interaction lowered stress, elevated moods and decreased depression.


　　Additionally, Paro encouraged communication and social behavior among subjects. What's more, Shibata found that brain activity increased 50% in patients with dementia after just twenty minutes with Paro. Caretakers were positively affected as well: The robots not only decreased nurses' stress levels but also gave them something to discuss with their elderly patients.


　　And newer robots have the potential to serve as much more than companions. The machines could monitor aged patients, watching out for falls, and remind them to take their medications.


　　Additionally, they could serve as communication tools, providing wireless voice and video links to distant friends and family members.