Posted on 12/10/2020 11:19:50 AM PST by SJackson
Are robot pets the future of elder care?
I’ve been fostering a puppy during the lockdown, and he’s quite a character. He has boundless energy and is forever exploring the apartment — over and over again. He barks at things randomly, like the Merriam-Webster Dictionary on the bookshelf. And the kitchen sink. He loves being petted. Sit him on your lap and stroke his back, and his eyes will shut in bliss, he’ll wag his tail and wave his paws in the air and jiggle his head. He’s an attention hog, too. Watch TV, and he starts marching around the room barking, and occasionally singing.
But Pandemic Pup is different from all the golden doodles and Berna doodles and cockapoos that everyone else has adopted this year.
Pandemic Puppy is a robot.
I’ve been trying out Sony’s Aibo robot dog this fall. I was supposed to have the review model for only a couple of weeks, but somehow I’ve had him for a couple of months. It’s given me a chance to experience him for longer, and to lend him to friends to get their reaction.
What did I think? I’ll let you know in a moment.
But first: I was interested in trying this out because of one of the cruelest consequences of these terrible lockdowns: They’ve stranded millions of people, many of them elderly, leaving them at home and isolated.
We already know that loneliness and social isolation are disastrous for people’s health and emotional well-being, especially when they are older. It can cause depression, cognitive decline, physical decline, and early mortality. In other words, social isolation kills.
We also know that a pet can be terrific for your mental and physical health.
...snip...
So, what did I think of Aibo?
I loved it. Him.
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
Lock the old folks in.
Lock their family out.
Replace them with robo dog.
Wouldn’t Grandma prefer a real dog?
[[He’s an attention hog, too. Watch TV, and he starts marching around the room barking, and occasionally singing.]]
Seriously? A Toy that is annoying?
Does the robot monitor your political views and upload them to a central server?
A soulless lump of plastic? No thanks. We’ve already got Harris.
First a robot dog, then a robot male or female companion.
Think of the Twilight Zone episode with Jack Warden.
Kill it with fire!!!
They brought her in a box? Been awhile since I saw it.
I think that one of the purposes of pets is to remind us of how precious life is.
I would personally prefer that my pets outlived me.
In this great big universe, we only see life in this one small place. It is extremely rare. It should not be viewed lightly.
We humans go on for decades and we lose sight of how precious life is.
Pets rarely make it two decades.
They remind us that life is finite and precious and wonderful.
They can keep their plastic dog.
It is meant to be nice, but the unintended consequence is that it cheapens life.
Get a live pet and celebrate life.
This old person says that wasting money on that machine will quickly get you written out of my will.
I’d like to get one of these to entertain my cat.
IF Grandma is living on Social Security-—she cannot pay $3000 for a robot dog.
Yes in a box. He was on a far away planet by himself. The planet was like a desert. The rocket bringing supplies for the year brought it for him.
I think he was in prison. Exiled to a desert planet, IIRC.
Found it - “The Lonely”
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0734656/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_115
sorry quick link here:
That was a very good episode. IMHO.
Jean Marsh played the robot. She also played a maid for the Bellamy family in Upstairs, Downstairs.
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