Paro, a fur-covered robot that looks like a seal pup, has become a
popular therapeutic toy for seniors with dementia—giving providers
another way of addressing behavioral disturbances among assisted living
residents with Alzheimer’s disease. The robot, which moves and makes
sounds in response to sound and touch, took 12 years to develop at the
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology.

According to The Washington Post, the robot is also being
used as part of icebreaker activities at senior living communities
among residents without dementia. View a two-minute video of seniors in Japan interacting with a Paro robot.