As you are reading the title of this article, perhaps you are wondering why an article about dogs is on this gadgets and technology Website. Did this article get posted to the wrong blog? Not at all. Because it turns out that whether man’s best friend is a live dog or a robotic toy, it provides relief from loneliness.
Researchers at St. Louis University School of Medicine recently completed a study that analyzed the benefits of companionship of live and robotic dogs for people living in long-term care facilities. Whether the participants had a living dog or AIBO, Artificial Intelligence RoBOt, results were similar. According to the report, which can be found in the March 2008 issue of Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, “both the Dog and AIBO groups had statistically significant improvements in their levels of loneliness.”
These results provide some helpful insight. While one does not want to fill his or her senior family member’s days with a robot as his or her only sources of company, it is nice to know that some loneliness can be assuaged with AIBO.
To read the full report, click here.
