Japan’s Showa University unveiled their latest training dummy, a life-like robot dental patient with a moving head and arms, and facial and oral features that react to pain and fatigue the way a real patient might.
Named Hanako 2, this latest robot incorporates skin, mouth and tongue features built by the country’s top sex doll manufacturer, Orient Industry.
Hanako 2 represents significant improvements over the prior model. It can blink, sneeze, shake its head, cough, gag and engage in simple conversation using voice recognition software.
"If you don’t try to make a robot’s face look realistic, it doesn’t have the same effect on users psychologically. How doctors and students actually feel in the presence of a patient is a really big factor. It makes quite a difference if students can train while experiencing the same kind of tension they’d feel about a human patient," university officials said.
Orient Industry was instrumental in developing Hanako 2’s silicone skin, and the inside of the mouth has been formed into one piece to help prevent liquids from leaking into the machinery.
The robot was fabricated by Tmsuk and will be sold by Yoshida Dental Manufacturing, although price points have not yet been disclosed.
