Ollie the Baby Otter Is a Therapy Robot That's Actually Affordable
From: IEEE Spectrum - 03/25/2015

In MIT's Product Engineering Processes course, teams of undergrads have to
come up with an idea for a product, figure out if it can be commercially
successful, make a prototype, and then wrap everything up with a pitch
presentation at the end. In 2013, one of the teams decided to make a therapy
robot to help with anxiety and depression in dementia patients. It’s a cute
little otter, and its name is Ollie.

Ollie was designed based on studies showing that animals can have a
significant positive impact on people with dementia, which includes one out
of every three seniors. Animal-assisted therapy can help reduce stress and
agitation, minimize feelings of isolation, and give people something to
touch, and be touched by.

Read the entire article at:
http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/medical-robots/mit-ollie-the-baby-otter-therapy-robot

Links:
Animal-assisted therapy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal-assisted_therapy

Paro the Robotic Seal Could Diminish Dementia
http://spectrum.ieee.org/robotics/home-robots/paro-the-robotic-seal-could-diminish-dementia