Robot Pets Almost as Good as Real Ones?

Gallamine writes "Many people claim that pets are good for their owners. But, what about robot pets? Some scientists at the Center for the Human-Animal Bond at Purdue's Veterinary school say yes, robot pets can benefit humans. Petting an AIBO caused the human stress hormone cortisol to decrease in patients, much like a real dog, although the effects weren't as pronounced. Also, AIBOs sent to nursing homes caused the residents to be less depressed and lonely. Similar research is being done by Dr. Dr. Takanori Shibata with his robotic seal named Pero."

My Pet

[Anonymous Coward]

No robot can ever replace my pet rock!

What do I dream of?

[ShadowMarth]

I wonder how much an electric sheep would cost...

Re:My Pet

[Anonymous Coward]

just remove the batteries, and you'll see your robot pet is just as good :)

Re:No comparison

[Chowderbags]

The mess that real dog leaves in the corner?

careful, that aibo has DRM!

[omegashenron]

in the future, sony's aibo will spy on it's owners for playing copied DVD's and CD's... it will then use it's wifi to connect to your access point and let it's evil master sony know what you are doing... but really, who has $2k to blow on some pice of crap, robosapien kicks ass anyday!

obl.

[someguyfromdenmark]

I, for one, welcome our robotic canine overlords

Mental Commit Robot For Psychological Enrichment

[Max Threshold]

"Seal Type Mental Commit Robot Paro"

That's exactly what I would have called it. Yep...

Play with it long enough, and you get committed.

This question was posed back in 1973...

[sticks_us]

...by woody allen (in Sleeper)

"...and after you've moved into your permanent home, you'll enjoy mechanized servants. Until then, you can have a computerized dog."

[rags the robot dog, in computer voice] Woof. Woof. Woof. Hello, I'm Rags.

[woody allen] Is he housebroken, or will he be leaving little batteries all over the floor?

Re:Pfft, robots.

[blank_vlad]

Call me when robot pets get realistic tongues and can lick peanut butter off stuff.

Pervert.

Re:um, dr. dr. ?

[ettlz]

"Doctor! Doctor! I feel like a robotic pet!"

"Yes, yes, calm down. Aibo-leive you."

Re:A robot cat would be easy

[peginald]

A robot cat would also have to be able to detect those with a deep seated fear of cats and then dig their claws into them.

There are 11 types of AI researchers

[ettlz]

From the PARO Q&A section [paro.jp]:

Q: How did Paro get its name?
A: There are three reasons.
(1) Paro comes from Personal Robot
(2) "Pa", an explosive sound that is easy to remember

Ai-ai-ai!