The most notable technology involved is something called “sensate skin,” which measures temperature, force and electrical fields. Hug it, it hugs back. Move it from your lap to a table and it notices, and may gesture for attention.
Still, Breazeal’s colleague Sherry Turkle, an MIT sociologist who studies robot interaction with the elderly, says robot therapy raises concerns. Unlike traditional dolls, " these objects push back. We have to ask ourselves if it suits our human purposes to give people the illusion of relationship."
