{{short description|Artificially intelligent machine made to be a pet}} '''Robotic pets''', '''robo-pets''' or '''pet robots''', are artificially intelligent machines that are made to resemble actual pets. While the first robotic pets produced in the late 1990s were not too advanced, they have since grown technologically. Many now use machine learning (algorithms that allow machines to adapt to experiences independent of humans), making them much more realistic.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Video & Blog: Will Robot Pets Replace Real Dogs and Cats?|url=https://www.drernieward.com/blog/robotpets|access-date=2021-11-04|website=Dr. Ernie Ward|date=16 January 2018 |language=en-US}}</ref> Most consumers buy robotic pets with the aim of getting similar companionship that biological pets offer, without some of the drawbacks that come with caring for live animals.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Howard|first=Jacqueline|date=2016-10-03|title=Robot pets offer real comfort|url=https://www.cnn.com/2016/10/03/health/robot-pets-loneliness/index.html|access-date=2021-11-04|website=CNN|language=en}}</ref> The pets on the market currently have a wide price range, from the low hundreds into the several thousands of dollars.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|last=Span|first=Paula|date=2020-09-26|title=In Isolating Times, Can Robo-Pets Provide Comfort?|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/26/health/coronavirus-elderly-isolation-robot-pets.html|access-date=2021-11-04|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Multiple studies have been done to show that we treat robotic pets in a similar way as actual pets, despite their obvious differences.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last1=Melson|first1=Gail F.|last2=Kahn|first2=Peter H. Jr.|last3=Beck|first3=Alan|last4=Friedman|first4=Batya|date=2009|title=Robotic Pets in Human Lives: Implications for the Human–Animal Bond and for Human Relationships with Personified Technologies|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1540-4560.2009.01613.x|journal=Journal of Social Issues|language=en|volume=65|issue=3|pages=545–567|doi=10.1111/j.1540-4560.2009.01613.x|s2cid=14314262 |issn=1540-4560|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book|last1=Kahn|first1=Peter H.|last2=Friedman|first2=Batya|last3=Perez-Granados|first3=Deanne R.|last4=Freier|first4=Nathan G.|title=CHI '04 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems |chapter=Robotic pets in the lives of preschool children |date=2004-04-24|chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1145/985921.986087|series=CHI EA '04|location=New York, NY, USA|publisher=Association for Computing Machinery|pages=1449–1452|doi=10.1145/985921.986087|isbn=978-1-58113-703-3|s2cid=1545620 }}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite book|last1=Melson|first1=Gail F.|last2=Kahn|first2=Peter H.|last3=Beck|first3=Alan M.|last4=Friedman|first4=Batya|last5=Roberts|first5=Trace|last6=Garrett|first6=Erik|title=CHI '05 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems |chapter=Robots as dogs?: Children's interactions with the robotic dog AIBO and a live australian shepherd |date=2005-04-02|chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1145/1056808.1056988|series=CHI EA '05|location=New York, NY, USA|publisher=Association for Computing Machinery|pages=1649–1652|doi=10.1145/1056808.1056988|isbn=978-1-59593-002-6|s2cid=14656073 }}</ref> However, there is some controversy regarding how ethical using robotic pets is, and whether or not they should be widely adopted in elderly care.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":6">{{Cite book|last1=Lazar|first1=Amanda|last2=Thompson|first2=Hilaire J.|last3=Piper|first3=Anne Marie|last4=Demiris|first4=George|title=Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems |chapter=Rethinking the Design of Robotic Pets for Older Adults |date=2016-06-04|series=DIS '16|location=New York, NY, USA|publisher=Association for Computing Machinery|pages=1034–1046|doi=10.1145/2901790.2901811|isbn=978-1-4503-4031-1|s2cid=465783 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Pike |first1=Joanne |last2=Picking |first2=Richard |last3=Cunningham |first3=Stuart |date=May 2021 |title=Robot companion cats for people at home with dementia: A qualitative case study on companotics |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1471301220932780 |journal=Dementia |language=en |volume=20 |issue=4 |pages=1300–1318 |doi=10.1177/1471301220932780 |pmid=32668978 |issn=1471-3012|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
== History == The first known robotic pet was a robot dog called Sparko, built by the American company Westinghouse in 1940. It never got sold due to poor public interest {{Citation needed|date=October 2024}}.
The first robotic pets to be put on the market were Hasbro's Furby in 1998 and Sony's AIBO in 1999.<ref name=":0" /> Since then, robotic pets have grown increasingly advanced.
The shapes of the robotic pet includes:
* familiar animals * nonfamiliar animals * imaginary animals or characters<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ihamäki |first1=Pirita |last2=Heljakka |first2=Katriina |date=2021-08-14 |title=Robot Pets as "Serious Toys"- Activating Social and Emotional Experiences of Elderly People |journal=Information Systems Frontiers |volume=26 |pages=25–39 |language=en |doi=10.1007/s10796-021-10175-z |issn=1387-3326 |pmc=8364409 |pmid=34413702}}</ref>
Some popular robotic pets today are:<ref name=":0" />
* Joy for All (by Hasbro) Companion Pets<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> * Zoomer Interactive Animals (Usually Kittens and Puppies) * PARO Robot Seals by Intelligent Systems Co. * AIBO (upgraded) by Sony * Loona Petbot by KEYi Tech * FurReal Friends by Hasbro * Little Live Pets by Moose Toys * EMO Pet by Living AI * Hatchimals * Pets Alive by the Hong Kong-based company ZURU * Present Pets by Spin Master
== Common Uses == The primary consumer group is elderly people that live alone or in nursing homes, who often suffer from loneliness and social isolation.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":7">{{Cite magazine|date=2021-05-21|title=What Robots Can—and Can't—Do for the Old and Lonely|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/05/31/what-robots-can-and-cant-do-for-the-old-and-lonely|access-date=2021-11-04|magazine=The New Yorker|language=en-US}}</ref> For this group, robotic pets can be helpful because they often are unable to consistently walk, feed, or otherwise take care of an actual pet.<ref name=":1" /> Robotic pets are also marketed towards dementia patients, who are people that suffer from loss of memory and thinking skills. These people often suffer extreme loneliness due to not remembering their loved ones, but having physical contact and constant reminders of a robotic pet can lessen that feeling.<ref name=":2" /> For example, a study done in Texas and Kansas found that dementia residents who had group sessions with a PARO (brand of robotic pet) for three months showed decreased anxiety and less behavioral problems, when compared to a control group that experienced activities in a traditional nursing home, such as music and physical activity.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Petersen|first1=Sandra|last2=Houston|first2=Susan|last3=Qin|first3=Huanying|last4=Tague|first4=Corey|last5=Studley|first5=Jill|date=2017|title=The Utilization of Robotic Pets in Dementia Care|journal=Journal of Alzheimer's Disease|volume=55|issue=2|pages=569–574|doi=10.3233/JAD-160703|issn=1875-8908|pmc=5181659|pmid=27716673}}</ref>
Robotic Pets can be helpful when it comes to patients unable to perform consistent physical action because AIBO performs slower than a live animal. In addition, patients unable to contact their loved ones due to infectious diseases can be eased the loneliness feeling when interacting with AIBO.<ref name="Banks">{{cite journal |last1=Banks |first1=Marian R. |last2=Willoughby |first2=Lisa M. |last3=Banks |first3=William A. |title=Animal-Assisted Therapy and Loneliness in Nursing Homes: Use of Robotic versus Living Dogs |url=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2007.11.007 |journal=Journal of the American Medical Directors Association |pages=173–177 |language=English |doi=10.1016/j.jamda.2007.11.007 |date=1 March 2008|volume=9 |issue=3 |pmid=18294600 |s2cid=39026989 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> The new AIBO ERS-1000 AIBO model can be used in household use or therapy.<ref name="Helm">{{cite conference |last1=Helm |first1=Melina |last2=Carros |first2=Felix |last3=Schädler |first3=Johannes |last4=Wulf |first4=Volker |title=Zoomorphic Robots and People with Disabilities |year=2022 |publisher=Association for Computing Machinery |location=New York, NY |url=https://doi.org/10.1145/3543758.3547552 |doi=10.1145/3543758.3547552 |book-title=Proceedings of Mensch Und Computer 2022 |pages=431–436 |conference=MuC '22, Darmstadt, Germany |isbn=9781450396905|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Furthermore, a Qualitative study associated with National Centre for Child Health and Development (NCCHD) has shown the bright future of robot-assisted therapy during special medical care.<ref name="Takana 1">{{cite journal |last1=Tanaka |first1=Kyoko |last2=Makino |first2=Hitoshi |last3=Nakamura |first3=Kazuaki |last4=Nakamura |first4=Akio |last5=Hayakawa |first5=Maoko |last6=Uchida |first6=Hajime |last7=Kasahara |first7=Mureo |last8=Kato |first8=Hitoshi |last9=Igarashi |first9=Takashi |title=The pilot study of group robot intervention on pediatric inpatients and their caregivers, using 'new aibo' |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-021-04285-8 |journal=European Journal of Pediatrics |pages=1055–1061 |language=en |doi=10.1007/s00431-021-04285-8 |date=1 March 2022|volume=181 |issue=3 |pmid=34716798 |pmc=8897326 }}</ref> The experiment was conducted with children who were hospitalised in NCCHD; two physicians observed the participants throughout the experiment and rendered a qualitative analysis to evaluate the possibility of applying robotic Pet in medical. The result of the experiments in National Centre for Child Health and Development (NCCHD) was given out a dominant positive result when the children interact with AIBO (ERS-1000); the research has proved that robot-assisted therapy was effectively medically purposed, especially in the case of a pediatric ward.<ref name="Takana 1" />
== Affordability == When robotic pets were first introduced into the market, they were not very financially feasible for most people. Even now, there remains a large price gap between different types of robotic pets. For example, PAROs robotic pet seals cost $6,120, making them unaffordable to most individual consumers.<ref name=":2" /> They are therefore bought more by nursing homes, hospitals, or other institutions.<ref name=":2" /> On the other end of the price spectrum are Joy For All's Companion Pets. These only cost about $120, which makes it more realistic for individual consumers, such as elderly adults who live alone.<ref name=":7" />
Currently, there is very little insurance coverage available for robotic pet owners. Medicare only covers the costs of certain robotic pets (PARO) for use by therapists, not by any individuals.<ref name=":2" /> However, Medicaid and some private insurers are exploring the idea of including robotic pets in their healthcare.<ref name=":2" /> If this were to happen, it would significantly boost the sales of the pets.<ref name=":2" />
In 2018, Sony relaunched their discontinued AIBO with a friendly puppy appearance; the new model was released with various significant upgrades compared to the ERS-7 model. The price for a 2018 AIBO (ERS-1000) falls around US$3.000; the price has gone up due to a new design with state of the art sensors integrated into the ERS-1000 model.
== Effectiveness == Since the effectiveness of a robotic pet depends heavily on how much consumers see it as a real animal, multiple studies have been done comparing robotic pets to other things, such as live animals and inanimate objects (toys). The studies often focus on whether the robot / animal / toy is seen to have the following characteristics: {| class="wikitable" |+ !Characteristic !Definition !Example Question |- |Biological<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> / Physical Essence<ref name=":5" /> |Whether or not something is alive<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /> |Can it eat? |- |Mental State<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /> |Whether or not something can have feelings<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /> |Can it be happy? |- |Sociability<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /> |Whether or not something is capable of being a companion<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /> |Can you be friends with it? |- |Moral Standing<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /> |Whether or not something is responsible for their actions<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /> |Can you justify physically punishing it if it does something wrong? |}
=== Robotic Pet vs Stuffed Animal === One study in 2004 compared how children interacted with Sony's AIBO versus with a stuffed dog. The researchers did this by letting the children play with either the stuffed toy or the AIBO for three minutes, and then asking the children a series of questions to determine how they viewed each one.<ref name=":4" /> The study found that, when the children were asked questions about the characteristics of either AIBO or the stuffed animal, they responded in similar ways.<ref name=":4" /> This held true when they were asked questions concerning biological essence, mental states, sociability, and moral standing.<ref name=":4" /> However, there were differences in how the children behaved with AIBO versus the stuffed animal. For example, in the questionnaire the children responded that both the AIBO and the stuffed dog could hear verbal commands.<ref name=":4" /> But when the researchers observed how the children interacted with the AIBO or stuffed dog, they found that more children gave verbal commands to the AIBO.<ref name=":4" />
=== Robotic Pet vs Live Animal === Another study in 2005 compared children's interactions with the AIBO and with a live dog. The researchers did this by letting the children play freely with either the AIBO or the real dog for five minutes, and then asking the children a series of questions to determine how they viewed each one.<ref name=":5" /> The study found that more children preferred to play with the live dog over the AIBO, and more children affirmed that the live dog had a physical essence, a mental state, sociability, and moral standing.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5" /> However, the researchers found that the AIBO was given some dog-like attributes, even if not treated entirely like the dog.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5" /> For example, many of the children thought the AIBO could have feelings, such as happiness or sadness. Some also thought that the AIBO could be their friend, and that it wasn't okay to kick the AIBO if it did something bad.<ref name=":5" />
Both these studies concluded that robotic pets such as AIBO often aren't categorized as either alive or inanimate, but rather in a new category in between the other two.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /> For example, children in the first study treated the AIBO differently than they treated the stuffed toy, even though they stated that the two were very similar.<ref name=":4" /> In contrast, the children in the second study stated that the live dog was different from the AIBO, but ended up treating the two similarly.<ref name=":5" /> These findings show that we consciously identify robotic pets as inanimate objects, but we behave as if they are closer to real pets than they are to toys.
=== Animal Assisted Therapy vs Robot-Assisted Therapy === A study in the United States was conducted on animal-assisted therapy (AAT);<ref name="Tamura 2004">{{cite journal |last1=Tamura |first1=Toshiyo |last2=Yonemitsu |first2=Satomi |last3=Itoh |first3=Akiko |last4=Oikawa |first4=Daisuke |last5=Kawakami |first5=Akiko |last6=Higashi |first6=Hajime |last7=Kasahara |first7=Yuji |last8=Fujimooto |first8=Toshiro |last9=Nakajima |first9=Kazuki |title=Is an Entertainment Robot Useful in the Care of Elderly People With Severe Dementia? |journal=The Journals of Gerontology |date=January 2004 |volume=59 |issue=1 |pages=M83–M85 |doi=10.1093/gerona/59.1.M83 |url=https://academic.oup.com/biomedgerontology/article/59/1/M83/533605 |pmid=14718491 |language=en|doi-access=free |url-access=subscription }}</ref> the study was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of the therapy pet method. Participants interact with animals as a pet owner plays with their Pet; the experiment's outcomes were reported with many physical and mental improvements for the participants.<ref name="Fujita 2007">{{cite journal |last1=Fujita |first1=M |title=How to make an autonomous robot as a partner with humans: design approach versus emergent approach |url=https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2006.1923 |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences |pages=21–47 |doi=10.1098/rsta.2006.1923 |date=15 January 2007|volume=365 |issue=1850 |pmid=17148048 |bibcode=2007RSPTA.365...21F |s2cid=6433380 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> However, the concern of transmitted diseases from animals posed a reconsideration from institutions when they consider animal-assisted therapy.<ref name="Melson 2005">{{cite journal |last1=Melson |first1=Gail F. |last2=Kahn |first2=Peter H. |last3=Beck |first3=Alan M. |last4=Friedman |first4=Batya |last5=Roberts |first5=Trace |last6=Garrett |first6=Erik |title=Robots as dogs? children's interactions with the robotic dog AIBO and a live australian shepherd |url=https://doi.org/10.1145/1056808.1056988 |website=CHI '05 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems |publisher=Association for Computing Machinery |pages=1649–1652 |doi=10.1145/1056808.1056988 |date=2 April 2005|s2cid=14656073 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> In addition, A qualified therapy animal requires a well-trained session and a licensed caregiver, which randomly escalate the operating fees to the service.<ref name="Tamura 2004" /> Opposite to animal-assisted therapy, robot-assisted therapy overcomes the draws back of animal-assisted therapy, and there are studies conducted to justify the possibility of robotic Pet in the medical field.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gácsi |first1=Márta |last2=Szakadát |first2=Sára |last3=Miklósi |first3=Ádám |title=Assistance dogs provide a useful behavioral model to enrich communicative skills of assistance robots |journal=Frontiers in Psychology |doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00971 |date=2013|volume=4 |page=971 |pmid=24399986 |pmc=3872049 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Fujita 2007" /> In the study, AIBO is the selected subject for the research. AIBO was used to companion Elderly and hospitalised children. The robot-assisted method has already been applied to many cases, namely aged care, workplace, vulnerable social groups.<ref name="Schellin 2020">{{cite book |last1=Schellin |first1=Heidi |last2=Oberley |first2=Tatiana |last3=Patterson |first3=Kaitlyn |last4=Kim |first4=Boyoung |last5=Haring |first5=Kerstin S. |last6=Tossell |first6=Chad C. |last7=Phillips |first7=Elizabeth |last8=Visser |first8=Ewart J. de |title=2020 Systems and Information Engineering Design Symposium (SIEDS) |chapter=Man's New Best Friend? Strengthening Human-Robot Dog Bonding by Enhancing the Doglikeness of Sony's Aibo |pages=1–6 |doi=10.1109/SIEDS49339.2020.9106587 |date=April 2020|isbn=978-1-7281-7145-6 |s2cid=219314105 }}</ref> Robot-assisted therapy comes at a lower cost than animal-assisted therapy. The robot does not need to feed or a licensed professional trainer; ultimately, the robotic Pet hygienic standard is higher than live animals.<ref name="Fujita 2007" /> AIBO-assisted therapy has given positive results, such as stimulating social-emotional function for vulnerable social groups and mental health well-being with elders in the aged-care facility.<ref name="Banks" />
The conclusion from the above studies, animal-assisted therapy (AAT) or robot-assisted therapy (RAT) has shown positive results from patients. Robot-assisted therapy can replace animal-assisted therapy in the particular unavoidable situation as social activity support for infectious illness patients, restricted movement patients, elderly whose vulnerable to animal transmitted diseases.<ref name="Takana 1" /> In contrast, the animal-assisted therapy study's result shows the positive level of participants higher than robot-assisted therapy;<ref name="Krueger 2021">{{cite journal |last1=Krueger |first1=Frank |last2=Mitchell |first2=Kelsey C. |last3=Deshpande |first3=Gopikrishna |last4=Katz |first4=Jeffrey S. |title=Human–dog relationships as a working framework for exploring human–robot attachment: a multidisciplinary review |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-021-01472-w |journal=Animal Cognition |pages=371–385 |language=en |doi=10.1007/s10071-021-01472-w |date=1 March 2021|volume=24 |issue=2 |pmid=33486634 |pmc=7826496 }}</ref> this method was still limited by the cultural beliefs about the cleanliness of the animals; notably, the budget for this method is more pricey than the alternative therapy.<ref name="Tamura 2004" /> Ultimately, with the advancement in robotic technology, robot-assisted therapy gradually can replace live animal therapy because of the safeness of the vulnerable target patient. also, the robot-assisted therapy had proved delightful positive results when it was conducted in a large scale study.<ref name="Krueger 2021" />
== Controversy == While robotic pets have proven to be beneficial to many consumers, especially those who are elderly, there remains some controversy about certain ethical issues.<ref name=":2" /> One study from 2016 attempted to discuss two main ethical considerations: elderly consumers may not be able to recognize that the robots aren't actual pets, and that the robot pets will come to replace human interaction.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":6" /> Those who participated in the study came to the conclusion that for most consumers, neither issue is major concern.<ref name=":6" /> They found that most robotic pet owners understood that the robot pet was animated, even if they formed a pet-like relationship with it.<ref name=":6" /> Additionally, the study participants argued that the robotic pets would more likely be used in a way that facilitated more social interactions in a group setting, such as at a dog park.<ref name=":6" /> However, these issues continue to cause debate because there is a minority of consumers, including many dementia patients, who may fail to recognize that the robot is animated.
A robotic pet can mimic animal gestures, and the pet robot's design can look close to a natural pet. In this situation, AIBO ERS-1000 inherited an appearance close to a puppy, and the behaviour can be developed based on the owner interactions.<ref name="Krueger 2021" /> The new AIBO was integrated with cloud memory. The data will be sent online to process and keep AIBO updated; with this function, AIBO behaviours can develop from a new puppy to a mature dog.<ref name="Krueger 2021" />
== References == {{Reflist}}
Category:Robotic pets