Robot from Japan coming to hospitals and eldercare facitilies in US.

From NPR “Robotic Baby Seal Coming to U.S. Shores.”

It’s been available in Japan for several years, but now the company has created a Florida-based unit, Paro Robots U. S. Inc., to sell the fuzzy creature to places like nursing homes and hospitals. The robot, named Paro, is marketed as a therapeutic device that can help comfort people who have dementia, autism or other problems that can lead to social isolation.

Few people have ever seen a live baby seal, so they aren’t likely to draw comparisons between the robot and the real thing. So they accept Paro as a cute little companion.

“I’ve kind of gotten attached to her, and I can see how people can get attached to her. I treat her like she’s real,” says Nancy Chila, director of nursing at the Arleigh Burke Pavilion, part of the Vinson Hall retirement community in McLean, Va.

She says the facility began testing the robot in April with about a dozen residents. “If I walk down the hall, groups of people will stop,” Chila says. “They actually remember her [Paro] now, when she comes out.”