Gravitas: How Japan uses robots for therapy

Can robots be used for therapy? In Japan, the answer is yes. Tech-savvy Japan is harnessing robots to care for its elderly & tackle the country's loneliness epidemic. Is this a win for technology or loss for humanity? Palki Sharma brings you a ground report.

#Robots #Therapy #Gravitas

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[shaumitkumar]

This is really sad. I wish all the elderly people of Japan, lots of love and warmth.

[Arnsteel]

That is the saddest thing I have ever seen. We can’t even give them the warmth and touch of a real dog, much less a human being.

[interceptor]

Thank you WION for this critical report and not approving for this loss of humanity.

[Daredevil]

After Therapy, Credit card declines
Robot : Terminator mode activated

[parbatrt]

It's not new in Japan, when I heard that a friend of mine used to say" he visits his mother once year" it was unbelievable for me and observed it a decade ago in Japan.

[jamesjohnson]

This is really sad that computers are replacing human care and kindness. Thank you Palki for your sensitive and caring reporting. You and the crew at Wion are amazing. I pray 🙏 that this isn't the future for our precious elders.

[kulatejataujongana]

Meanwhile in CCP China, a covid test robot is invented to maintain its draconian zero covid policy lol

[JackK-ggco]

Remember "you will owe nothing, you will be happy"

[sundayvictor]

Who else want palki to do more voice overs? the voice is soothing and sweet to listen to not some persons yelling like i cause the virus lol.

[koiyujo]

I love this idea! I think using robots to help and threat the elderly is amazing!

[Waltznumber]

It's not what Palki thinks or feels, it's what the seniors think and feel. And if they're comfortable and entertained by robots, then that's all that matters.

[naveenmishra]

Your reporting today my eyes watering...

[gitastudygroup]

Thank you million for bringing this tragedy of human making to the world. It is criminal, cruel and should disturb anyone who calls themselves human beings 🕉

[jessieochoa]

Interesting. Talk about nightmares. Wow too talk about horrors.

[bernardonchieku]

how good and well that Japan is able to help their older ones ..don't let them die...help them ..coz its the end that justifies the means ...not visa miss my both grandies...both sides...n my Mom n dad....if in Japan well I could see them..kudos...😅🇰🇪

[audreymoon]

This where we Africans differ from the West and East..We really care about our own elders...No guest house for elderly!

[komo]

I can't really agree with the way this is told. Even in the article itself, it was stated that over 30% of the Japanese population is over 65. To properly care for the elderly in the way that is considered ideal anywhere else, you'd have to remove more than half of the entire nation's population from the work force. The remaining minority would be breaking their backs for the sake of these people.

I can't help but think that these people weren't even asked any questions to make this article. "What these elderly touch isn't real. They are soft, but not warm. Do they even know that these animals aren't real? Does it matter?" How can these question be posed without asking the very people that are affected by them? And in reality, I ask, does it matter that they are not real animals?

The emotions that these people put into the robots when they pet them are real. Just like when a child hugs a teddy bear. The thing they play with doesn't have to be real for the emotions to be real.

And unlike real animals, they don't need to have employees to clean up for them. Employees that are vanishing when the average age of a Japanese person is getting terrifying close to retirement age.

Can such questions as "is this right" be asked in a country, when in a few decades, less than 50% of the population is below retirement age? What about when it becomes 25%? 10%?

Such a thought might seem impossible outside of Japan, but this is a real concern over there, something that the people have to deal with every day. What would you think if you and your spouse is already middle age, have four retired parents to care for yet you both work all day, no siblings between you, and only have one child that will one day have to care for both of you and their spouse's parents in the future? Maybe even your own parents if they live to be more than a hundred?

What choice would you have, when you think, your own child might end up dealing with two generations of retired parents because life expectancy is that long in Japan, yet birth rates are so low that child has no siblings to help them care for you when you and your spouse are unable to work anymore?

Saying it's sad that the youth of Japan is dumping their elderly on robots is cynicism of the highest order. What's sad is, Japan is a nation that has more elderly than they have young people. That, it is a nation where its people has no choice but to leave caring for the ones they love to robots, because unlike western nations that just doesn't bother paying for enough elderly care workers, Japan is a nation where the elderly will soon outnumber the rest of the population.

[SAURABHMANDAL]

Two of the world's most advanced technology-driven countries are facing huge crises that they never realized while they were driving their country's growth.
Japan: Ageing
South Korea: Chronic sleep deprivation

[PassanCat]

This is our future as well. Embrace it and pretend petting robots is good.

[laeseries]

I work with seniors and sometimes we give them a baby doll or stuffed puppy, they enjoy it and carry them around with love. It helps them with anxiety and brings some of them back to when they had children or pets to care for. We also have pet therapy where dogs, cats and other animals come in from time to time. I think robots would be good, especially if it can do quizzes and interact with the residents. I often utilize YouTube for sing-alongs and quizzes, my clients enjoy it. I also think they would find the robot interesting.