Japanese elderly ignore robot entertainer

Ifbot, the resident robot at a Japanese nursing home, can converse,sing, express emotions and give trivia quizzes to seniors to help withtheir mental agility. Yet the pale-green gizmo has spent much of thepast two years languishing in a corner alone.  “The residentsliked ifbot for about a month before they lost interest,” said YasukoSawada, director of the facility in Kyoto, western Japan, shaking herhead as she contemplated the 495,000 yen ($NZ5860), 45-cm-tall(18-inch-tall) “communication robot”. “Stuffed animals are more popular,” she remarked dryly.  High-techgadgets and futuristic robots which Japan had hoped might lend a handwhen the population turns grey haven’t caught on with the elderly, whoaccording to forecasts will make up around 40 per cent of thepopulation by the middle of the century.

Source and more:  New Zealand Herald, http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10465061