Researchers Study How Robots Interact with Children From: IEEE - The Institute - November 2001 By: Carol Goodale At the Tsukuba University Hospital, young patients ranging from two to 13 years of age were allowed to play with Paro, a baby harp seal robot before meals and in the evening - often restless times for hospitalized children. In this Robot Assisted Therapy, the robot interacted with short-term and long-term patients for 11 days. In addition to other evaluation methods, the nurses reported that the seal robot helped relieve patients' anxiety and improved communication among patients and their caregivers. http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/INST/nov01/frobots.html