Kazuyoshi Wada, Takanori Shibata, Takashi Asada, and Toshimitsu Musha

Abstract:
In robot therapy for senile dementia patients, a seal-like robot, Paro, was left in patients' homes for a week to determine its neuropsychological influence. Efficacy was evaluated by the diagnosis method of neuronal dysfunction (DIMENSION), which detects a lack of smoothness of scalp potential distribution resulting from cortical neuronal impairment by analyzing recorded a patient's electroencephalogram (EEG). Interaction with Paro by patients was observed by their families. In a preliminary experiment, 5 subjects were studied after informed consent was received from them or their families in accordance with the medical ethics committee of the University of Tsukuba and the AIST ethics committee.

Keywords: mental commitment robot, robot therapy, psychotherapy, human-robot interaction, dementia