Depression patient robot for diagnostic training in psychiatric education

In this paper, a depression patient robot by using the android robot SAYA is proposed as a practical application of android robot technologies. The purpose of the patient robot is to offer reproducible and realistic education and training to psychiatrist trainees. In particular, the patient robot treats unipolar depression, which is a typical psychiatric disease. The robot exhibits symptoms of unipolar depression by exploiting its communicative functions such as facial expressions, eye and head movements, and distinctive speech. In an interview with a psychiatrist, the robot's communicative functions are controlled by remote control, and the interview progresses according to a diagnosis scenario that was previously prepared. To evaluate its repeatability and educational effects, a field experiment was conducted in psychiatric education field.