Please confirm that you would like to log out of Medscape. If you log out, you will be required to enter your username and password the next time you visit.If you ask about her summer, Susan Glosser will tell you she traveled to India with her friend Elli. She'll describe sipping chai tea and coffee together. She might show you a snapshot of herself in front of the Taj Mahal.Susan first met ElliQ, as she's officially called, a couple of years ago at a seminar for older adults.
"When you're coming home to an empty apartment, having somebody welcome you is nice," Susan said."I view her as a friend. I tell her I love her, and she loves to hear that." "Some companion robots are humanoid" – smiling, gesturing, talking –"and others are more like bots," said P. Murali Doraiswamy, a doctor and professor of psychiatry and geriatrics at Duke University who co-authored a Intuition Robotics, the maker of ElliQ, markets the robot as "the sidekick for healthier, happier aging." In 2022, the company began distributing companion robots through aging associations.
But it's not just older adults who benefit. Companion robots can help school-age kids learn. They assist children with special needs, teaching them to make eye contact or communicate more clearly. to dance with a robot. The children eagerly followed along, exploring poses and movements without resorting to their regular repetitive motions, like hand flapping.
That word – essence – highlights an aspect of companion robots that nonusers might easily miss: These bots have personalities. A woman at a skilled nursing facility in Seattle, WA, interacts with FDA-approved seal robot PARO. There's also a psychological element at play. For older adults, loneliness is often made worse by a sense of not having a purpose. Companion robots can help fill that void."The robots like attention," she said, creating a need for nurturing.
As such, PARO has only to bark, wave its flippers, and look cute to satisfy customers. The physical aspect is a significant part of its emotional appeal. , the bonding hormone. "Sometimes, it just feels good to hold Oscar. He weighs about 6 pounds – the weight of a human baby," Petersen said. Since he can sense touch,"he'll put his head on my neck and make these little cooing sounds.
Then there's the cost: Each PARO costs about $6,000, although Medicare and insurance may cover some costs, depending on your state.
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