Robot seals comfort Japan tsunami survivors
Fukushima, Japan (AHN) – Two small robotic seals are being used to comfort elderly victims of Japan’s tsunami and earthquake.
Many in Japan are still dealing with the memory of the devastating Japan earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown at Fukushima. The March disaster killed thousands and left scores more injured and homeless.
More than half of the tsunami victims were over the age of 65, and in one nursing home south of the tsunami-ruined Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, elderly Japanese survivors are finding comfort in a couple of furry robotic seals.
The Paro seals, nicknamed Love and Peace by residents of the Suisyoen Nursing Home, were gifts from the robotic division of the Japanese company Daiwa House. Suisyoen’s general manager said that using this kind of therapeutic robot lowered the barriers that would normally be in the way of using live animals. The seals have helped the elderly residents cope and have literally given them something to hold on to.
Animals are frequently used as therapy for elderly patients and these two robotic pet seals, with their anti-bacterial coating, provide the same companionship a pet gives. The elderly residents can hold onto them, hug them and bring them along to group activities.
Residents say the seals are as cute and soft and cuddly as a living creature, except when the batteries run out.
View full post on Health Treatment Stories
Comments
Leave a Reply
Affordable Health Insurance- HHS unveils final design for insurance labels
- Dutch appeals court denies Apple’s plea to ban sale of Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1
- Online shoe, clothing store Zappos hacked; passwords for 24 million users reset
- Kansas, Oklahoma insurers won’t get a break on rebate rule
- FAA to issue rules on pilot fatigue more than a year after deadline
- Japanese household spending dips as retail sales, unemployment edge up
- Texas Lawsuit Identifies Problems In Medicare Hospice Provisions
- Daylight Savings Time 2011: things to remember
- Premiums, Deductibles And Cost Sharing In Employer Health Plans Keep Rising
- BlackBerry outage over, RIM exec apologizes
- Cheap Airline tickets
- Buffett takes a stake in GM
- VW, Chrysler see profits jump while Fiat posts losses
- BMW says sales in China helped it hit new record
- Jaguar to build F-Type sports car in Britain
- Brake light, airbag issues prompt recall of 700,000 Toyota cars
- Volkswagen announces its annual profits doubled
- Chrysler posts $225 million profit
- GM back on top as world’s biggest automaker
- VW sells record 5.1 million cars in 2011
- Honda widens recall for airbag problem
- Budget Car insurance
- Oil at 9-month high on Iran export halt
- Employers added 243,000 jobs in January
- First class stamp rises to 45 cents
- Visions for a healthier West Bank economy
- No. 1 worry among Americans is the economy
- German exports fall more than expected
- Illinois lawmakers to take up tax plan to keep CME, Sears in state
- Cottage industries offer hope in former war zone
- Fear of financial losses drive soaring price of gold
- Iron ore prices could slide to $140 per tonne
- Personal Loans
- Mortgages
- How Much House Can I Afford? Affordability analysis test
- U.S. housing prices show some gains
- Existing home sales fall 3.8% in May to lowest rate in six months
- S&P downgrades China’s property market rating
- Habitats | Clinton Hill, Brooklyn: Adopted by a Brownstone
- How Biweekly Mortgages Protect your Biggest Investement
- Food prices push China’s inflation to 34-month high in May
- Foreclosures Grow in Mortgage Market’s Top Tiers
- Hamilton Heights: Awaiting a Bounce
- The Mysteriously Shifty Interest Rate And Housing Industry
- Business Loans
- McNeil recalls some Infants’ Tylenol due to dosing system complaints
- Micron CEO Steve Appleton killed in plane crash
- Price Chopper Supermarkets recall shredded taco cheese
- Novartis recalls four popular OTC drugs
- Best Buy cancels some online orders before Christmas
- Two major publishers announce bad news for newspaper industry
- Judge blocks Citigroup’s $285 million SEC settlement over mortgages
- Warren Buffett makes about face on investing in tech firms, acquires 5.5% stake in IBM
- U.S. Supreme Court upholds no limit on patient lawsuits against medical device makers
- Telenor refuses to pay $400M in fines to Bangladesh authority
