Human loneliness and robot dogs
Lorraine Joplin, 94, lives in a nursing home in Maryland Heights, Missouri. As part of a recent study, she got to spend some quality time with a dog-like robot named AIBO.
"It was a sweet little dog," she said. "He would do tricks for us."
Joplin's friendship with AIBO was part of a small study by St. Louis University that found AIBO was as effective as a real dog in relieving loneliness and fostering emotional attachment.