St. Louis-based researchers conducted a study on loneliness at three U.S. nursing homes. One group was given a flesh-and-blood dog named Sparky to play with, another received a Sony Aibo dog robot, and the third got no dog at all.

Where the researchers reasonably expected that Sparky would have been far and away the most popular of the three scenarios among the homes' residents, the dog actually finished neck and neck with the AIBO when it came to alleviating loneliness.

"The most surprising thing is they worked almost equally well in terms of alleviating loneliness and causing residents to form attachments," Dr. William Banks, who worked on the study, told Reuters. He added, ""Loneliness is common in nursing homes. Robots may be very useful for people who cannot for whatever reason have access to a living dog."

"The most surprising thing is they worked almost equally well in terms of alleviating loneliness and causing residents to form attachments," said Dr. William Banks, who worked on the study, told Reuters. Adding, "Loneliness is common in nursing homes. Robots may be very useful for people who cannot for whatever reason have access to a living dog."

After all, robots don't mind as much when you don't feed them. Unlike real dogs, however, they do get discontinued, as is the case with the AIBO. In the meantime, might I recommend a nice Rolly?