When robots are used as part of meaningful play, for example to enhance wellbeing, they can be considered “serious toys”. Our study examines the potential of robotic pet toys viewed as companions, which activate social and emotional experiences of the elderly by increasing their wellbeing. In order to study the benefits of using Golden Pup, a commercial robot dog, we designed and performed a research intervention at a senior day activity center with 10 participants of ages 65–80+ years who were joined by a playful group of preschoolers. In this study, we were mainly interested in the firsthand user experiences.This study suggests how robotic pets can be used to activate the social and emotional experiences of elderly, and illustrated the role of building a relationship with a robotic pet. We present novel results on how a robot dog with a natural interface (NUI) may be used to evoke social and emotional experiences in older adults as part of playful, intergenerational group activities.

当机器人被用作有意义的游戏的一部分时，例如为了增强福祉，它们可以被视为“严肃的玩具”。我们的研究探讨了机器人宠物玩具被视为伴侣的潜力，它们通过增加老年人的福祉来激活他们的社交和情感体验。为了研究使用商用机器狗 Golden Pup 的好处，我们在一个老年人日间活动中心设计并进行了一项研究干预，参与者有 10 名年龄在 65 至 80 岁以上的参与者，其中还有一群顽皮的学龄前儿童。在这项研究中，我们主要对第一手的用户体验感兴趣。这项研究提出了如何使用机器宠物来激活老年人的社交和情感体验，并说明了与机器宠物建立关系的作用。我们提出了关于如何使用具有自然界面（NUI）的机器狗来唤起老年人的社交和情感体验，作为有趣的代际团体活动的一部分。