A new robotic baby invention called a Babyloid was recently developed in Japan to "interact" with nursing home residents. The goal is to help alleviate depression in nursing home residents, perhaps by providing something for them to care for and nurture.
Babyloid has a simplistic, non-realistic face and responds to being rocked or held using sensors that turn his cheeks red when he's happy and blue when he's sad. Babyloid might even fall asleep if it's being rocked or cry LED tears if upset. More than 100 different sounds are programmed in Babyloid. The inventor, Masayoshi Kanoh, apparently recorded his youngest child's baby sounds and used them in developing Babyloid.
Preliminary research was conducted at a nursing home, concluding that residents who held and interacted with Babyloid for eight minute intervals for a total of 90 minutes a day experienced a reduction in their symptoms of depression. The estimated price for Babyloid is $1300 USD.
You can see pictures of the Babyloid here.
I've recommended before that baby dolls be used to provide comfort for people who have Alzheimer's or another kind of dementia. They can also be beneficial when offered as something to hold on to while care is being provided, especially if your loved one has some behavioral challenges.
I'm all for reducing the loneliness and depression that is sometimes present for older adults in facilities, but I'm not quite ready to jump on this bandwagon yet. There's certainly something important about providing people with the chance to be a caregiver and have meaningful activity, but it feels almost like they're trying to replace human interaction and affection with science fiction-like inventions. How about we take the time to hold someone's hand, to bring our cat or dog (with facility permission) to visit the pet-lovers, or bring our children to visit our older loved ones?
What do you think?
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