Robotic Pets Are The Future

[samoyedman]

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/robotic-pet-ownership-to-rise-in-an-overpopulated-world-professor-says-20150512-ggzrd8.html

Cats and dogs could be replaced with the robotic kind in households worldwide by 2025, an Australian university professor predicts.

Dr Jean-Loup Rault from the University of Melbourne says growth in the world's population will make real animals available only for the super-rich.

The future, he says, may lie in chips and circuits that mimic our fury four-legged friends.

"It might sound surreal for us to have robotic or virtual pets, but it could be totally normal for the next generation," Dr Rault says.

He reveals his prediction in the latest edition of Frontiers in Veterinary Science journal.

"It's not a question of centuries from now," he says. "Pet robotics has come a long way from the Tamagotchi craze of the mid-90s.

"We are already seeing people form strong emotional bonds with robot dogs in Japan.

"In Japan, people are becoming so attached to their robot dogs that they hold funerals for them when the circuits die."

Dr Rault began researching to fill a void in information about how technology may influence the relationships between humans and animals in the future.

"You won't find a lot of research on pet robotics out there, but if you Google robot dogs, there are countless patents," he says.

"Everyone wants to get ahead of this thing because there is a market and it will take off in the next 10 to 15 years."

If there was any evidence to support Rault's prediction, Google has been on a buying frenzy in the past two years, snapping up robotics companies across the globe.

It has purchased Boston Dynamics, makers of Wild Cat and the humanoid Atlas robots, and home smart appliances maker Nest Labs.

The Sony AIBO robotic pet dog, developed in 1999, is among the most recognisable commercialised robotic animals. However, Sony stopped making AIBO and several other products in 2006 in an effort to make the company more profitable.

Meanwhile, Paro, the robotic baby seal, is classified as a medical device in the USA. It is designed elicit positive responses from patients.

But the emergence of robotic pets is a double-edged sword, Dr Rault warns in his paper.

In his paper, Dr Rault asks whether a surge in the popularity of "disposable pets" could lead to a shift in the treatment of real animals.

"Of course we care about live animals, but if we become used to a robotic companion that doesn't need food, water or exercise, perhaps it will change how humans care about other living beings," he says.

Google's Boston Dynamics released a video earlier this year to promote its robotic dog called Spot.

The robotic dog's creators repeatedly kicked it to demonstrate its stability. That, however, did not bode well with many social media users, who criticised the creators' behaviour as "cruel" and "wrong".

"Robots can, without a doubt, trigger human emotions," Dr Rault says.

"If artificial pets can produce the same benefits we get from live pets, does that mean that our emotional bond with animals is really just an image that we project on to our pets?"

Edited May 15, 2015 by samoyedman

[Dame Aussie]

Not for me!

[VizslaMomma]

Not for me!

Never for me either!

[Pjrt]

Well I better learn me some electronics if I'm to stay in business!

[westiemum]

Nothing will replace a real live westie!!! I can't see a robot dog snuggling up in the crook of my neck.

[VizslaMomma]

Nothing will replace a real live westie!!! I can't see a robot dog snuggling up in the crook of my neck.

Doubt a robot could ever replicate the joys of a real dog.

Recently watched (again) that Star Trek episode where Data created a child. That was sad.

Edited May 15, 2015 by VizslaMomma

[Kirislin]

they should be the only "pets" to be sold in pet shops, as well as the only kind anyone charged with cruelty can ever own again.

[denali]

they should be the only "pets" to be sold in pet shops, as well as the only kind anyone charged with cruelty can ever own again.

agreed.

but there will never be any in my house!

[Salukifan]

"Robots can, without a doubt, trigger human emotions," Dr Rault says.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19.5px;"><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19.5px;">"If artificial pets can produce the same benefits we get from live pets, does that mean that our emotional bond with animals is really just an image that we project on to our pets?"

I'd like to see those statements expanded upon. Artificial pets triggering human emotions - I don't doubt it for a minute.

Can they satisfy skin hunger, lower blood pressure, encourage responsibility in children, encourage exercise, provide warning of intruder or fire? I don't doubt that a very complex robot might do all those things. But the idea that it would be "cheaper" than a dog, at least initially? I don't think so.

And I don't want one.

[Taliecat]

Not for me!

Not in my house!

I need the warm furry type to keep me from shivering on a crisp night.

That and I can't see a robot dog doing zoomies while stealing my undies or socks to keep me entertained and laughing.

Because I swear he does it just to crack me up..

[denali]

"Robots can, without a doubt, trigger human emotions," Dr Rault says.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19.5px;"><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19.5px;">"If artificial pets can produce the same benefits we get from live pets, does that mean that our emotional bond with animals is really just an image that we project on to our pets?"

I'd like to see those statements expanded upon. Artificial pets triggering human emotions - I don't doubt it for a minute.

Can they satisfy skin hunger, lower blood pressure, encourage responsibility in children, encourage exercise, provide warning of intruder or fire? I don't doubt that a very complex robot might do all those things. But the idea that it would be "cheaper" than a dog, at least initially? I don't think so.

And I don't want one.

Nor would a robot be able to pick up on our chemical and physical signs of happiness, stress, sickness etc..

Not in the near future anyways, maybe oneday.

[LisaCC]

"Robots can, without a doubt, trigger human emotions," Dr Rault says.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19.5px;"><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19.5px;">"If artificial pets can produce the same benefits we get from live pets, does that mean that our emotional bond with animals is really just an image that we project on to our pets?"

I'd like to see those statements expanded upon. Artificial pets triggering human emotions - I don't doubt it for a minute.

Can they satisfy skin hunger, lower blood pressure, encourage responsibility in children, encourage exercise, provide warning of intruder or fire? I don't doubt that a very complex robot might do all those things. But the idea that it would be "cheaper" than a dog, at least initially? I don't think so.

And I don't want one.

Nor would a robot be able to pick up on our chemical and physical signs of happiness, stress, sickness etc..

Not in the near future anyways, maybe oneday.

I wouldn't be surprised if in the future they made robotic pets specifically for this reason actually. A health monitoring system that provided an emotional comfort rather than the uneasy feel of sterile type equipment.

[Dame Aussie]

I don't buy it, for me anyway. I couldn't connect with a piece of machinery. Just no.

Edited May 16, 2015 by Dame Aussie

[Pjrt]

At least it would always bring the stick back........

Unless they come with a program to go get the stick then bugger of doing enormous circles just out of reach with their head in the air and then when they finally decide they want the stick thrown agin, tear past you whacking you in the shins with the stick before finally yielding.....

[denali]

"Robots can, without a doubt, trigger human emotions," Dr Rault says.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19.5px;"><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19.5px;">"If artificial pets can produce the same benefits we get from live pets, does that mean that our emotional bond with animals is really just an image that we project on to our pets?"

I'd like to see those statements expanded upon. Artificial pets triggering human emotions - I don't doubt it for a minute.

Can they satisfy skin hunger, lower blood pressure, encourage responsibility in children, encourage exercise, provide warning of intruder or fire? I don't doubt that a very complex robot might do all those things. But the idea that it would be "cheaper" than a dog, at least initially? I don't think so.

And I don't want one.

Nor would a robot be able to pick up on our chemical and physical signs of happiness, stress, sickness etc..

Not in the near future anyways, maybe oneday.

I wouldn't be surprised if in the future they made robotic pets specifically for this reason actually. A health monitoring system that provided an emotional comfort rather than the uneasy feel of sterile type equipment.

Well Disney kind of made a prototype in their Big Hero 6 movie

Not a pet though.

[LisaCC]

"Robots can, without a doubt, trigger human emotions," Dr Rault says.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19.5px;"><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19.5px;">"If artificial pets can produce the same benefits we get from live pets, does that mean that our emotional bond with animals is really just an image that we project on to our pets?"

I'd like to see those statements expanded upon. Artificial pets triggering human emotions - I don't doubt it for a minute.

Can they satisfy skin hunger, lower blood pressure, encourage responsibility in children, encourage exercise, provide warning of intruder or fire? I don't doubt that a very complex robot might do all those things. But the idea that it would be "cheaper" than a dog, at least initially? I don't think so.

And I don't want one.

Nor would a robot be able to pick up on our chemical and physical signs of happiness, stress, sickness etc..

Not in the near future anyways, maybe oneday.

I wouldn't be surprised if in the future they made robotic pets specifically for this reason actually. A health monitoring system that provided an emotional comfort rather than the uneasy feel of sterile type equipment.

Well Disney kind of made a prototype in their Big Hero 6 movie

Not a pet though.

I still haven't seen that yet, so no idea what it's actually about, except big white robot thing

[GeckoTree]

In 10 years! Struth mate! That's quite the crystal ball he has! haha.

[Little Gifts]

I got one for Christmas a couple of years back and it has lived on a shelf ever since. There is nothing appealing about it. Even the other dogs didn't want it in their pack. It looks like this -

[westiemum]

Oh my goodness LG! What a hard ugly looking thing!! Who did you upset!!??

[Little Gifts]

My youngest sister (who lives here) bought it for me. Like I didn't already have enough dogs to look after! From memory the computer doggy barks and rises up and sits on his bum. He comes with a remote control of course! Here is a pic we took that Christmas day of it. You'll notice it can't follow commands as well as our real dogs!