Paro the Therapeutic Robot Baby Seal 52
Mike writes "Paro is a therapeutic baby seal robot that is exploring new dimensions in animal therapy. Created to act as a companion for hospital patients and the elderly, the adorable baby harp seal bot aims to increase relaxation and decrease stress. Paro can sense and respond to its immediate environment through five integrated sensors that detect touch, light, sound, temperature, and posture, and it is even capable of learning and responding to a name."
Yes, but can he.... (Score:3, Funny)
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Whoa. That was seriously cool ... and a little creepy. The action on the penguins was eerie!
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You don't need helium to make him fly. Just a club.
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Can he swim underwater like a real seal?
I know attempting a serious answer to a discussion riddled with baby seal jokes is rather useless, but baby seals [gdargaud.net] can't swim until they lose their bay fur which provides insulation only against cold air, not cold water.
Stress Relief (Score:3, Funny)
Provide a wooden club alongside these baby seals to help people release their stress.
You could sell them as a package. I've got the perfect slogan: 2 Seals, 1 Club.
Therapeutic (Score:5, Funny)
They're not kidding when they say these are therapeutic. I just clubbed the shit out of a half-a-dozen of these things, and I haven't felt this good since I got back from the Arctic!
-Peter
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Man, this'll get me through those tough Canadian winters when clubbing baby seals isn't in season. It'll probably help improve my accuracy too!
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How twisted am I? When I read the title this was exactly what I thought the article would be about...
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Finally, now my puppies and kittens will be safe.
Works for everyone except (Score:1, Redundant)
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This is a comment to this message and one further down.
1. They aren't "Eskimos"... They are Inuk, Innu, and/or Inualuvimiut. ..certain parts... as aphrodisiacs, and we eat the meat too... ever hear of seal flipper pie? :-D
2. There is nothing wrong with using a hakapik, it's much faster than a gun, I know it looks bad, but it's better for the coat and the speed of death.
3. We don't just use fur for coats... nice, stylish and warm coats... but the chinese seem to like
If you want to condemn anything, go af
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Bad idea! (Score:3, Funny)
You're going to have to paint Paro's fur orange so as to deter poachers. I don't imagine that a patient's stress levels would be very low after seeing their baby seal buddy clubbed into oblivion.
Just tell security to shoot any canadians (Score:2)
Just tell security to shoot any canadians that come in the area. Good advice any day.
Posssible Uses (Score:2)
If a Newfoundland fisherman harpoons himself in the foot during next year's seal hunt they can give him one of these in the hospital to cheer him up.
It's a robot right? Maybe they could put missiles on (in?) one and put in on an ice flow then film it shooting back at the fisherdudes. That would be a YouTube classic right there boy I'll tell you what.
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We *had* brutal sadistic animals that would hunt humans effectively. They're mostly extinct or getting there. I applaud you on making a more effective killer as what's left is BORING. Even with 200 years of selective breeding deer have not grown any defensive weapons nor do they exhibit any effective aggression towards humans.
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Mental Commitment Robot Seal, Love You Long Time (Score:3, Informative)
The real question is... (Score:1, Redundant)
Stress relief (Score:2)
It can treat frustration, just use a club on it :)
Deja vu (Score:2, Interesting)
Reminds me of the time.... (Score:2)
Elton John, being a fan and thinking it would be a nice bit of PR for Iggy Pop, jumped onto the stage unannounced in a gorilla costume. Not realizing Iggy, as was sometimes the case at the time, was performing on LSD it turned into a show stopper.
I can imagine by the time I'm old in the home, have Alzheimers, and they try to drop some advanced bit of furry robot squirm into my lap, I'll probably react like Iggy on acid. Great, just great.
but more importantly (Score:1)
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So the only difference between this and a furby.. (Score:1)
Finally, a good therapy (Score:1)
Quick, go get the club! (Score:2)
Skynet takes many forms... don't be fooled by it's cuteness.
Do androids... (Score:2)
No, seriously. I have no words.
Great for clubbing (Score:1)
Since it looks like they already have a pacifier in the mouth they must be great for clubbing.
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These squishy-left nerds need to bring their propaganda up to date.
So when one is older (Score:2)
So when one is in old age, they are pleased by a fluffy tickle me elmo?
Yes, but... (Score:2)
Creepy, weird. (Score:2)
Sterilization (Score:1)
Paro, crap quality (Score:1)
I worked at a science center for kids for a year and half and we had a Paro for about a year. The thing was incredibly flimsy...
All the touch-sensors are based on a rubbery foam with a metal film covering. This doesnt last very long and doesnt handle liquids very well...
The fur covering cant be completely removed. This is a major issue since you cant really wash the bastard so over time it gets grayer... and grayer... and yellowy... yeah... nasty as heck :-p
There is almost no retention on the power-cord. Th
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Oh... and the damn power-supply isnt grounded so the fucker builds up a static charge strong enough for kids to yelp when touching it.
Saw one in Tokyo... (Score:1)
Saw one of these at the Miraikan (National Museum of Emerging Technology) in Tokyo. The hardest part in interacting with it was that it kept getting distracted by schoolkids... maybe my accent was too foreign.
like that's gonna work (Score:2)
Take a nice, cute, cuddly stuffed animal, shove a hard robotic skeleton inside, and have the whole thing croak after 20 minutes when it runs out of power. Yeah, a real improvement.