Faux Fidos As Good As Real Dogs?

February 26, 2008

Robotic dogs alleviate loneliness and offer companionship just as effectively as real canines, according to a new study conducted by Saint Louis University researcher William Banks and his colleagues. For the study, they introduced both a fake doggie and a real one to three nursing homes. The faux mutt was Aibo, a Sony-made robot that looks like a 3-D cartoon. The real pooch was a medium-sized, gentle dog named Sparky.

38 nursing home residents answered questions to assess their levels of loneliness after they spent time with the dogs. A control group did not see any pets, fake or in the flesh. Analysis of their responses found little difference, except that those who were introduced to any kind of dog had lower levels of depression than those who remained pet-less.

“There is a lot of loneliness in nursing homes and animal-assisted therapy – whether from a dog or a robot – is one answer for addressing that,” Banks said, adding that robotic dogs benefit staff because they require next to zilch maintenance.

A robotic dog could even save lives.

“This health companion could follow a person in his home, giving reminders on when to take medication or sending out an alert when a person has suddenly gone from a vertical position to a horizontal one,” he said. “A person could get tired of a robot following him around. But if you could change that inanimate voyeur to a personal part of his life and a companion, that could be entirely different.”

I can see where such a robot could be like one of those "I've fallen and I can't get up" devices. No doubt robotic chums are the wave of the future, but wouldn't you rather have a real dog, bad breath, flatulence poop and all? The gentleman here offers a different perspective.