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Taizo Robot Exercise Instructor For Japan's Seniors
Taizo, the robotic exercise instructor, is exactly what Japan's aging population needs to stay in shape. Based on the HRP-2m Choromet bot from General Robotics, it leads groups of seniors in performing preventative care and rehabilitation exercises. The robot's name is a play on the Japanese word for "calisthenics".
( Taizo Robot Exercise Instructor with Dr. Oota Hitoshi)
The exercise robot was devised to entice as many seniors as possible to take part in a regular exercise program. It can also use its voice and speech recognition engine to interact with other participants.
Take a look at this short video of the charming Taizo robot exercise instructor.
Taizo's joints have 26 degrees of freedom; I'm wondering how many degrees of freedom the joints of Japanese seniors have...
Thanks to Ashley, here's a pretty good manga and anime antecedent to the idea of an exercise robot. In the 2001 series Chobits, Sumomo is a "mobile persocom", essentially an animated laptop computer. She leads Hideki in wakeup exercises every morning and dances in standby mode.
(Sumomo leads morning exercises)
From Robot Watch.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 9/11/2009)
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