A long-term experiment of robot assisted activity for elderly people has been conducted at a health service facility for the aged since Aug. 2003. Three therapeutic seal robots, Paro, were introduced there. This paper describes the results of the experiment for one year. Face scales that consist of illustrations of person's faces were used to evaluate person's moods. In addition, Geriatric Depression Scales were used to measure person's depression by questionnaires. As the results, feelings of the elderly people were improved by interaction with the seal robots.

Robot therapy for elderly residents in a care house has been conducted since June 2005. Two therapeutic seal robots were introduced and activated for over 9 hours every day to interact with the residents. This paper presents the results of this experiment. In order to investigate the psychological and social effects of the robots, the activities of the residents in public areas were recorded by video cameras during daytime hours (8:30-18:00) for over 2 months. In addition, the hormones 17-Ketosteroid sulfate (17-KS-S) and 17-hydroxycorticosteroids (17-OHCS) in the residents' urine were obtained and analyzed. The results of the urinary tests showed that the reactions of the subjects' vital organs to stress improved after the introduction of the robots. Furthermore, the results of the case studies indicate that the residents' social interaction increased through interaction with the seal robots

Robot therapy for elderly residents in a care house has been conducted since June 2005. Two therapeutic seal robots were introduced and activated for over 9 hours every day to interact with the residents. This paper presents a progress report of this experiment. In order to investigate the psychological and social effects of the robots, each subject was interviewed by using the free pile sort method, and their subjective social network was analysed. In addition, the activities of the residents in public areas were recorded by video cameras during daytime hours (8:30-18:00) for over 2 months. Then, their social network was analysed from the video data objectively. The results showed that the density of the social networks was increased through interaction with the robots subjectively and objectively.

Robot therapy for elderly residents in a care house has been conducted since June 2005. Two therapeutic seal robots were introduced and activated for over 9 hours every day to interact with the residents. This paper presents the results of this experiment for two months. In order to investigate the psychological and social effects of the robots, each subject was interviewed by using the free pile sort method, and their social relationship was analysed. The results showed that the robots encouraged them to communicate with each other and then strengthened their social ties over the two months. In addition, the subjects accustomed to Paro and then they made personal relationship with Paro.

Robot therapy for elderly residents in a care house has been conducted since June 2005. Two therapeutic seal robots were introduced and activated for over 9 hours every day to interact with the residents. This paper presents the results of this experiment. In order to investigate the psychological and social effects of the robots, the activities of the residents in public areas were recorded by video cameras during daytime hours (8:30-18:00) for over 2 months. In addition, the hormones 17-Ketosteroid sulfate (17-KS-S) and 17-hydroxycorticosteroids (17-OHCS) in the residents' urine were obtained and analyzed. The results indicate that their social interaction was increased through interaction with the seal robots. Furthermore, the results of the urinary tests showed that the reactions of the subjects' vital organs to stress improved after the introduction of the robots