Robots help older people reduce depression

Babyloid, the latest plant-made robot in Japan, looks like a stuffed animal but has the potential to reduce depression in older people, according to New Scientist.

Babyloid has a round face, made of silicon with blinking eyes, and the mouth can smile.

Robots have a way of expressing their own mood: the LEDs in Babyloid 's cheeks turn red to express satisfaction, while the blue LED's tear means ' baby ' not happy.

Babyloid is the creation of Professor Masayoshi
Kanoh of Chukyo University in Aichi Prefecture (Japan).

This robot knows what is going on through the light, heat, touch and accelerometer sensors. If you hold a crying Babyloid and shake, Babyloid can fall asleep. Babyloid can emit 100 different sounds.

In the pilot study in a nursing professor noticed Kanoh Babyloid help reduce the symptoms of depression in older people when they interact with the "baby" robot is about 90 minutes each day.

The Babyloid prototype costs about 2 million yen, but Kanoh believes the price of the product will drop to about 100,000 yen when it hits the market.