Updated: 2/18/2020
Japanese dentists-in-training may have to be more careful about where they poke and prod. Roboticists from Showa University in Japan are releasing an advanced robot that looks, feels and responds like a human patient. Check out the video:
First-year dental students typically don’t have much access to human patients because they haven’t yet developed the required skills. However, working on a mannequin head or robot doesn’t prepare a student for human reactions or unexpected situations. Roboticists from the university hope to solve that problem with the Showa Hanako 2.
One expert says that it’s easy for a student to detach emotionally if they’re working on a robot “patient.” The Showa Hanako 2 looks and acts a lot more like a real human than its previous counterparts (learn more about Hanako 1 here), giving dental students a more realistic training situation. This robot can:
- Talk, interact, build vocabulary and store responses
- Gag and flinch
- “Get tired” of holding its mouth open
- Sneeze and cough
- Provide feedback on the student’s performance via a computer
Developers hope this new robot will better prepare students for working on live patients.
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Source: Found on the American Student Dental Association blog, Mouthing Off.
Oh, I’m a bit scared!:) but it definitely looks pretty realistic.
This robot gets tired too? Amazing! I guess we’re not far from seeing cyborgs walking the streets and living with us human beings. Is this the complete version of the Hanako Showa robot?
Hi Doris,
You know how it is in science – there is never a “complete” version of anything. :-) There’s always room for improvement! But this is the most cutting-edge version to date.
wow that is pretty realistic, impressive
Does it say AH?