OBJECTIVE: An entertainment robot was used as occupational therapy instead of animal-assisted therapy to avoid any danger or injury to the patient and maintain cleanliness. This study compared the effectiveness of a robot animal, AIBO, with a toy. METHOD: AIBO is made of metal and responds to spoken commands. We demonstrated AIBO to severely demented elderly people living in a geriatric home and observed their reactions. RESULTS: The most frequent reactions to AIBO consisted of looking at, communicating with, and caring for AIBO. The patients recognized that AIBO was a robot. However, once we dressed AIBO, the patients perceived AIBO as either a dog or a baby. Nevertheless, the presentation of AIBO resulted in positive outcomes for the severe dementia patients, including increased communication between the patients and AIBO. CONCLUSION: AIBO was clearly an effective rehabilitation tool in the treatment of severely demented patients.
OBJECTIVE: An entertainment robot was used as occupational therapy instead of animal-assisted therapy to avoid any danger or injury to the patient and maintain cleanliness. This study compared the effectiveness of a robot animal, AIBO, with a toy. METHOD: AIBO is made of metal and responds to spoken commands. We demonstrated AIBO to severely demented elderly people living in a geriatric home and observed their reactions. RESULTS: The most frequent reactions to AIBO consisted of looking at, communicating with, and caring for AIBO. The patients recognized that AIBO was a robot. However, once we dressed AIBO, the patients perceived AIBO as either a dog or a baby. Nevertheless, the presentation of AIBO resulted in positive outcomes for the severe dementiapatients, including increased communication between the patients and AIBO. CONCLUSION: AIBO was clearly an effective rehabilitation tool in the treatment of severely demented patients.
Authors: Wendy Moyle; Elizabeth Beattie; Brian Draper; David Shum; Lukman Thalib; Cindy Jones; Siobhan O'Dwyer; Cindy Mervin Journal: BMJ Open Date: 2015-08-12 Impact factor: 2.692
Authors: M Anwar Hossain; Atif Alamri; Ahmad S Almogren; S K Alamgir Hossain; Jorge Parra Journal: Sensors (Basel) Date: 2014-06-16 Impact factor: 3.576