7

Robot baby

How are the elderly cared for in your country?

a Look at the title of the article and the picture

summary.

A robot baby called Babyloid has been developed

in Japan by Professor Masayoshi Kanoh of
Chukyo University. Babyloid looks and behaves
like a baby and its purpose is to keep older
people company by performing a series of infant
functions. For example, its black eyes turn blue
when it is sad and its cheeks turn red when it
is happy. Babyloid responds to your voice and
touch, may sleep when rocked and makes human
baby sounds. In Kanohs research, users engaged
with the robot baby for over an hour at a time.
People can buy Babyloid in Japan at a cost of
100,000 yen.

of Babyloid, a robot baby. What do you think it

can do?

b
Read the article. Check your ideas.

c Read the comments below the article. Add

missing sentences 13 to the three comments

(AC).

1 This may work but I think there are better

solutions.
2 This is horrible, so insulting towards the elderly.
3 Obviously you have strong feelings on this but I

Read the article again. Find five mistakes in this

Imagine you decide to respond to the article by

posting a comment. What would you say?

am much less certain it is a bad thing.

Fluffy baby robot helps to

keep you company

Comments

extra reading:
Photocopiable

It might just look like a large fluffy toy. But Babyloid,

Japans latest therapeutic robot baby, is also designed to
help older people by keeping them company.
Towards the middle of its round, silicone face are two
black dots that act as blinking eyes and a small opening
that poses as a mouth and can produce a smile. The
cheeks contain LED lights and turn red to signify when
Babyloid is contented. Blue LED tears are produced when
it is unhappy.
Developed by Masayoshi Kanoh, an associate professor
at Chukyo University in Japan, Babyloid knows whats
going on through its temperature, touch and light sensors.
If you hold the crying Babyloid and rock it, it might if
youre lucky fall asleep. Kanoh, who presented the latest
version of Babyloid at a robotics conference in Japan last
month, says the basic design with a simplified, smiling
face was chosen to avoid the creepiness a realistic baby
face can have.
Babyloid can produce more than 100 different sounds.
Kanoh is a father of three and he recorded the sounds of
his youngest when she was an infant for the robot. During
experimental studies at a retirement home, Kanoh found
that users interacted with Babyloid an average of seven to
eight minutes in a sitting with a total of 90 minutes per
day, which helped ease depression.
The prototype model cost about 2 million yen (16,500)
but Kanoh hopes Babyloid can be available to consumers
for 100,000 yen (830) should it reach the market.

Mari on December 12, 12.37 p.m.

A ..... Cant we let them have relationships with real
children rather than letting machines take care of them?
What older people need is conversation and company, not
electronic sounds.

Peter on December 12, 11.40 p.m.

B ..... I am the primary care-giver of my 84-year-old
mother (at home with us), and my father, 85, is in a home.
Mom has a stuffed animal which makes random sounds
(purrs, sneezes and a kissing sound). This thing has given
her more smiles than just about anything else in the last
few years. At 830 this robot would be an expensive
experiment, but I am sure much simpler and cheaper
devices could be just as positive.

Anonymous on December 17, 7.28 p.m.

C ..... How about adopting a pet instead? Less money to
buy, youll save the life of the animal, and theyre already
proven to give the same results as these robots.

2c 1C 2A 3B 3 1 Babyloid doesnt look like a baby. 2 Its black eyes produce blue tears when it is unhappy. 3 Babyloid responds
to temperature and touch, not voice. 4 Users engaged with Babyloid for seven or eight minutes at a time. 5 People cant buy
Babyloid yet.

219

Instructions p209

Cambridge University Press 2012

face2face Second edition Upper Intermediate Photocopiable

219