MAXIMIZING THE GOLDEN YEARS:

Japan's hi-tech carers: By 2050, the over 65s in Japan are expected to make up a third of the population... and it's likely that technology will be relied upon to help look after them. (My Special Partner is part of a Golden Years mini-series broadcast on BBC Two.)

Seventy-eight-year-old widow, Akino Okano, is lonely.

In Japan, the average woman lives to 85, seven years beyond the average man.

From the age of 22, Akino lived with her husband's parents and 11 other members of his family. But they have all died or moved away and she now lives in an enormous farmhouse on her own.

"When I come back from being out for the day and the house is dark, I feel alone and sad," says Akino.

"Conversation makes me happy. Sometimes I just feel like chatting."

To help combat the loneliness of longevity - and in true Japanese style - the country has turned to technology for guidance.

Special partner

Akino has been introduced to Primo Puel, an interactive doll that talks, giggles and even asks for cuddles.

It provides her with much of the company she longs for, especially in the evening.

Originally designed to be a substitute boyfriend for young single girls in the workforce, the doll has become an unexpected hit with elderly people across Japan.

Since they came on to the market five years ago, more than one million dolls have been sold.

However, the idea for such an innovative alternative to human companionship has been bubbling away in laboratories for much longer.

The National Institute of Advanced Science has been busy designing a robot seal, specifically for people like Akino.

SUPERMAX PRISONS: AN OVERVIEW (Human Rights Watch)

There is no way, of course, to measure the misery and suffering produced by prolonged supermax confinement. Inmates have described life in a supermax as akin to living in a tomb. At best, prisoners' days are marked by idleness, tedium, and tension. But for many, the absence of normal social interaction, of reasonable mental stimulus, of exposure to the natural world, of almost everything that makes life human and bearable, is emotionally, physically, and psychologically destructive. Prisoners subjected to prolonged isolation may experience depression, despair, anxiety, rage, claustrophobia, hallucinations, problems with impulse control, and/or an impaired ability to think, concentrate, or remember. As one federal judge noted, prolonged supermax confinement "may press the outer bounds of what most humans can psychologically tolerate."

Some inmates subjected to supermax confinement develop clinical symptoms usually associated with psychosis or severe affective disorders. For mentally ill prisoners, supermax confinement can be a living horror: the social isolation and restricted activities can aggravate their illness and immeasurably increase their pain and suffering. Moreover, few supermax facilities offer mentally ill inmates the full range of mental health services and treatment that their psychiatric conditions require.

Fortunately, supertoys last all Winter long.

Posted by Orrin Judd at April 13, 2005 7:03 AM