Robotic Dogs Just As Comforting As Real Dogs?

New research is apparently claiming that robotic dogs, like the Aibo, have the same beneficial impacts on human caretakers as live dogs. It's not clear how accurate the study is, though. It seems to be based solely on how the owners of the robotic dogs responded to questions concerning how they feel about the metallic schnauzers. It's no secret that people can bond with their robotic dogs, but that's still a stretch from saying the actual impact is the same between robotic dogs and live ones.