This past fall we spoke with Robert Ito about the growing phenomenon of human-robot bonding. His article "The Love Bot" was featured in Pacific Standard Magazine. From C-3PO to WALL-E, the loveable robot has long inhabited popular imagination. Robots like the Japanese made "Paro," pillow pets, and vacuum cleaning Roombas are engineered to be social.
While the role of robots is expanding to aid the lonely, dementia-suffering, or autistic patients, the idea of robot attachment is not without its objectors.
