TORONTO -- A small, avatar-style robot is giving hope to those who are bedridden or have physical limitations by allowing them to experience the outside world from home.
OriHime, a robot created by Japanese company Ory Laboratory, allows users to see through its eyes and interact with others through gestures and voice communication. The robot is equipped with a camera, microphone, and speakers, and is operated via the internet with a smartphone or tablet.
For clients with severe disabilities, the company offers OriHime eye, a communication device that captures motion from the user's eyes to input messages, which are then read aloud by the robot.
The goal of the robot is to eliminate feelings of loneliness and isolation for people whose ability to travel is limited.
It has given Yurina Furikawa, a 6-year-old girl born with a muscle disease called congenital myopathy, the chance to express herself during digital visits to places she otherwise wouldn't have access to.
Yurina's disease makes it difficult for her to move her arms and legs. Her mother, Ayako Furikawa, says Yurina is forced to spend most of her time lying in bed at their home in Yokohama, Japan, as the weakness of her muscles makes it hard for her to breathe when she sits up.
Earlier this month, Yurina was able to watch a concert by one of her favourite pop groups, Momoiro Clover Z, through the eyes of OriHime. From her bed, she controlled the robot's movements to interact with her aunt, Tomomi Nagasawa, who was in attendance at the performance.
"Even though the robot is far away, for her, it really feels like she's there," says Furikawa. "It's like she became the OriHime.
Being able to do things she wasn't able to do before on her own has really become something precious."
Ory Laboratory CEO Kentaro Yoshifuji, who co-founded the company in 2012, says the idea for OriHime was inspired by his own experiences of loneliness and isolation when he missed school between the ages of 10 and 14 for medical reasons.
"I started thinking, ‘Why do humans only have one body?’" Kentaro said.
"If there was another I could use, then I could use that body to go to school. It was with these thoughts in mind that I first started developing OriHime."
OriHime robots can be rented for personal or corporate use through an online application process run through the company's website.
With files from The Associated Press
