Last evening the Japanese consul officially opened Japan Culture Week at, naturally, the Alliance Francaise located, of course, in Little Havana. Don't you just love Miami?
I'd been to a few other international events at the Alliance Francaise, which single-handedly dispels the notion of French aloofness (while nevertheless housing an excellent French bakery on the premises).
The food last night was unmistakably Japanese - large, colorful sushi boats - as was the presentation on therapeutic robots. As you would expect from the people who gave us the Hello Kitty, this robot is no stiff audioanimatron but a cute, white, cuddly seal. Its name is Paro.
The Japanese tried dog robots and cat robots but the seal robot works best, according to inventor Takanori Shibata, because people have no preconceived ideas about it. It weighs 6 pounds - "like a baby," explained Mr. Shibata - and it has light and touch sensors so that it actually reacts to contact. Before the presentation, people took turns petting the guest Paro, which would raise its head occasionally, blink its eyes (especially when someone took a picture of it) and even bark.
Paro costs $6,000 and is now being used for therapeutic purposes in hospitals and nursing homes in Japan and several other countries. A film that accompanied the talk showed children with Down's Syndrome and people at a geriatric center in Denmark alternately bemused and smitten with the robotic seal.
Mr. Shibata said that he is hoping to get permission soon to market Paro in the United States. I hope it's granted, as Paro would be a boon not just to our medical services but to all the misunderstood, Thurberesque husbands who wake up in the middle of the night and tell their wives they heard a seal bark.
