PARO robot: ethical or not?

One of Japan's contributions to robotics [see Steve's roundup 15 Apr], the stuffed PARO baby harp seal, gets the 'controversial' treatment from The Wall Street Journal today.  Is this $6000 Class II medical device a comforting, interactive emotional support for older people, particularly those with dementia--or an inhumane diversion that relegates humans to mundane tasks and away from emotional connection with residents?  It certainly has had mixed reviews, and even its adoption in Japan has been limited.  Greatest success...

Denmark.  Dr. Bill Thomas of ChangingAging.org is particularly scathing.  His blog post embeds a PARO demo video that is an inadvertent creepshow.  Yet the WSJ video of Japanese nursing home residents interacting with PARO is charming.  It may be a cultural thing--it is, after all, from the land of Hello Kitty, whose feline charm has always eluded this editor [Donna] Yet knowing from a personal perspective how plush animals can please and soothe a person with dementia....you be the judge.  Wall Street Journal