Geminoid F as Caregiver

Professor Julie Wosk, known for her work on female robots, features the Japanese film Sayonara (2015) in the third chapter of her new book "Artificial Women: Sex Dolls, Robot Caregivers, and More Facsimile Females". The film tells the story of Leona, a robot who takes care of a terminally ill woman. The original story was written by Oriza Hirata, and the film was directed by Koji Fukada.  

One of the leading contributors in the peer‑reviewed scientific literature on Human‑Robot Interactions in Dementia (HRID), Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro joined the film’s production as a technical advisor. A creation born from his collaboration with the robotics company Kokoro, the humanoid robot Geminoid F appears in the film as the caregiver Leona. Geminoid F is a robot designed as an android replica of a Japanese woman. The 2010 YouTube video below presents the public unveiling of the female android Geminoid F alongside her real-life counterpart, a Japanese woman in her twenties, and demonstrates the method of her teleoperation.

Although we may still be far from fully integrating robots into the care of disadvantaged and vulnerable individuals, it is already crucial to examine their potential roles, especially in end‑of‑life contexts. Reflecting on these issues now helps us prepare for the ethical dilemmas that will inevitably accompany the future of human‑robot relationships.