Showa University has announced Showa Hanako 2, a robot dental patient fabricated by robot maker Tmsuk. Compared with its predecessor Showa Hanako 1, this robot is designed to be more realistic, functional, and easier to use. Showa Hanako 2 will actually be sold by the dental supply company The Yoshida Dental Manufacturing.
The main features of the new robot are a silicone skin and mouth lining by Orient Industry, a maker of love dolls. The tongue and arms each have two degrees of freedom, and the robot overall has ten, enabling it to make natural movements, like shaking its head and choking.
"We've been in contact with Orient Industry for over a decade, since before we produced Hanako 1. Even then, we thought we'd need professionals to help with the molding. 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 - thinking, for example, "I'm really going to make this treatment work," or "Even the smallest mistake would be unforgivable." We think it's OK for people to be tense while training, and to make mistakes, because, well, this is a robot."