Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Meet the world’s Most Therapeutic Robot, Paro the seal! Dr. Takanori Shibata designed Paro to improve the quality of life for the elderly and hospital patients. Modeled after a baby Harp seal, Paro evokes relaxing emotions to soothe those needing comfort. Join us as Dr. Shibata demonstrates Paro’s functions in this lively presentation.

Dr. Takanori Shibata is the inventor of a seal robot named Paro, named the World’s Most Therapeutic Robot by Guinness World Records. His research interests include human-robot interaction, human interactive robot, emotional robot, and robot therapy. Dr. Shibata received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Electro-Mechanical Engineering from Nagoya University, and was a postdoctoral associate at the Artificial Intelligence Lab at MIT. He received the Robot of the Year award from Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in 2006 and the Japanese Prime Minister’s Award in 2003.

Time:
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
12:30-1:30 pm

Location:
Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California
1840 Sutter Street, 2nd Floor Meeting Room
San Francisco [map]

Cost:
Free and open to the public.

Seating is limited and advanced registration is recommended online or by phone at 415-986-4383.