Aging at home
PARO, designed by Dr Takanori Shibata at Japan's national research institute AIST, went on sale in Japan in 2005.
A dated step forward on the record · Company-reported · Sets PARO's stage
What the source says
“A baby seal robot, PARO, was commercialized in its 8th generation in 2005 in Japan.”
What it means
PARO, from PARO Robots (Intelligent System Co.), is at stage 4 of 5 on our ladder: paying customers. This event is one of the milestones that placed it there. This line rests on the company's own announcement; no regulator, customer or independent report confirms it in our sources yet.
Human help: Our sources report it working without human help.
More on PARO
- The US government's medical device database lists PARO under the FDA product code for biofeedback devices, marked as exempt from premarket submission.
- A University of Brighton team tested PARO's hygiene and cleaning for nine months on a dementia ward run by Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust in England.
- AARP reported that some care facilities were using PARO to calm residents with dementia.
- PARO went on sale in the United States to individuals and institutions, at $6,000.
- PARO was listed with the US FDA as a Class II medical device that is exempt from premarket review. That means it did not need an FDA clearance before sale.