Hasbro’s new toy is meant for an older crowd. A much older crowd.
Is it the purr-fect companion?
Hasbro, the toy maker based in Rhode Island, released its newest product Wednesday, BetaBoston reports. It’s not good news for your nephew, though. For the first time in the company’s 86 years, a Hasbro toy is being made with elderly adults in mind.
For $99, family members can give aging relatives the gift of companionship in the form of a robotic pet animal. It’s called the Companion Pet Cat.
The toy is a robotic feline ready to meow, purr, and turn over at the touch of a hand—petting it or stroking it activates sensors. Customers have three fur coat colors to choose from: orange tabby, silver, and creamy white.
Though the companion pet is a first for Hasbro, the concept is not new to the world, BetaBoston points out. Japanese company Paro has been selling a robotic baby seal since the mid-1990s. The fluffy seal, named Paro, comes at the high price of around $5,000.
You may have seen Paro’s cameo in the first season of Aziz Ansari’s Netflix show, Master of None.
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According to BetaBoston, studies have found that Paro can help elderly people who have mental health conditions such as dementia.
But some people aren’t so keen on the idea of companion pet toys. MIT professor and psychologist Sherry Turkle told BetaBoston that the robotic companion pet rips humans of “our deepest connection with ourselves and our humanity.’’
She continued, “In the case of the robot no one is listening. And listening, listening and appreciating the stories of our elders, is our deepest compact across the generations.’’
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