Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) started the Paro project in 1993. Led by researcher Takanori Shibata, the project unveiled a first-generation robot in 1998. In the years that followed, several new models were developed. In 2004, the eighth generation of the Paro series was developed, and in the following year the robot was commercialized in Japan. In 2009, Paro was introduced in Europe and the United States, where the Food and Drug Administration certified the robot as a "biofeedback medical device." Paro has been used in hospitals and care facilities in about 30 countries.