Field Study of Mobile Teleoperated Android

The developed Geminoid Cell Phones will act as a new medium for communicating information which allows a speaker to “inhabit” a Geminoid Cell Phone and feel as if they were actually present at a remote location. It will be possible to adopt this new medium for various applications. For example, one straight-forward application will involve closely connecting persons who live far away from each other. Because conversants can strongly feel each other’s presences, the proposed approach offers advantages to using a telephone. Specifically, we expect that an elderly person living alone can feel relief if they can talk in a close and intimate way with children or grandchildren in a far-away place at any time.

In another case, a specialist counselor can counsel multiple patients with access to a teleoperated android without having to travel. We will confirm the applicability of the Geminoid Cellphones in the real world and their impact as a new communication medium on human relationships through long-term and large-scale field experiments at universities and urban locations.

Practically, we are exploring possibilities in remote care for elderly people and persons with psychological disabilities. In collaboration with elderly care facilities and university hospitals, we are conducting experiments in which caretakers communicate remotely with elderly people and counselors talk with people who suffered heavy mental stress, e.g., from disasters.