Speaking of Over-attachment to the Inanimate

companion toys for Japanese elderly people

As Japan produces fewer children and more retirees, toymakers are designing new dolls designed not for the young but for the lonely elderly -- companions which can sleep next to them and offer caring words they may never hear otherwise.

Talking toys have become such a hit that some elderly people have embraced them as substitutes for the children who have grown old and deserted entire neighborhoods in the rapidly greying country.

. . .

"Thank you for giving me a heart-warming baby. I'm no longer alone," an 82-year-old woman wrote while another senior woman said she was raising the doll "as my own child".

. . .

The robot's maker Dream Supply said the Snuggling Ifbot had the conversation ability of a five-year-old -- considered just enough for small talk to keep the elderly from going senile.

What does it mean to love a machine?
We can program them to be what we want.
The toy will never forget us.
 
But we forget it.
No need to worry about finding it a home for
. . . afterwards.
 
It has no soul.
Cast it aside.

Tag: Anthropomorphize