Technology can be used for almost everything, including having a conversation with the elderly in Japanese nursing homes, a dialogue that can help them reduce their anxiety or work with patients suffering from dementia. That is the task of Dai-chan, a robot with the appearance of a boy who talks to anyone who comes his way. A kind of “GPT stuffed animal” for the elderly, as Álex Barredo comments in his mixx.io newsletter, because the virtual assistant is still a conversational chatbot like the popular ChatGPT.
“Have you ever played kick the can?” asked Dai-chan, in her conversation with one of the patients from one of the centers of The Harmony company, according to the Nikkei Asia medium. “I did, every day,” the woman replied with a smile.
Dai-chan likes to have pleasant conversations that don’t make the user uncomfortable. If she senses that she doesn’t like her comment, she moves on to another topic of conversation. And he takes his time, because this robot likes quiet conversations.
The users of this residence are delighted with this stuffed animal, which measures approximately 30 centimeters in height. “Someone who used to spend all his time alone now happily asks me to bring Dai-chan,” a staff member explains to this medium.
Professionals remember that talking to nursing home residents is an important way to relieve their stress. People with dementia, in particular, can suffer from anxiety and panic attacks, and calming them down can be a challenge. “These symptoms can be alleviated while they are conversing and doing other tasks that require their concentration,” said Kazuya Takahashi, CEO of The Harmony.
Dai-chan has become a must because the staff don’t have time to stand up and have a good conversation with the users. That need is covered with this chatbot.
The process has not been easy. In 2019, The Harmony hired up to five engineers from information technology companies to develop this idea. In a first attempt, he discovered that a standard Artificial Intelligence (AI) could not hold conversations with dementia patients. The high level of background noise in care settings, such as music and televisions, also posed problems for systems that require accurate speech recognition.
After four years and an investment of 1.4 million dollars, the company has managed to develop a perfect robot, capable of holding conversations with the users of its five residences, as well as reducing their anxiety or working with patients suffering from dementia.
