Robot Dogs as Good as the Real Thing at Alleviating Loneliness

This dog doesn’t shed, have fleas, or need to be taken for a walk, but still provides companionship for grandma, that’s what researchers at Saint Louis University have concluded. The group conducted a study to compare how residents of three nursing homes interacted with Sparky, a living, medium-sized gentle mutt, and Aibo, a doggie robot once manufactured by Sony that looks like a three-dimensional cartoon. Read more