Following the outbreak of COVID-19, as Canada’s long-term care homes became hotspots for the pandemic-inducing virus, the physical and mental well-being of Canada’s elderly demographic was thrust into the spotlight. And as lockdown mandates led to feelings of social isolation, Canada’s already-struggling seniors were some of the hardest hit with feelings of intense loneliness.

For Dr. Lillian Hung, UBC’s lead researcher at the Innovation in Dementia & Aging (IDEA) Lab, it was time to take action. So in 2020, Hung and her IDEA lab team set out on the 18-month project Overcoming Loneliness, to study loneliness facing those working and living in Canadian long-term care homes.

“A lot of people lost a lot of their friends, and spoke about what they wanted. They wanted to have joy,” says Hung.

This led to an opportunity to think outside the box. After attending a conference in Japan, Hung came across a new type of robot named Lovots, or “love bots,” and observed their potential to connect with humans. Two years later, Hung returned to Japan and secured a deal with the manufacturer to bring two of Lovot’s robots, Kiwi and Mango, to the IDEA lab. Today the Lovot Robots project aims to study the impact Kiwi and Mango could have on elderly Canadians’ sense of “ikigai” (“what makes life worth living”).

After receiving the robots in September 2023, Hung and her team have collaborated with various local partners, including Amica Senior Lifestyles retirement homes, to study how Kiwi and Mango might fare as social companions. These two colorful, cuddly, and coo-ing robots have since made their way into 15 different long-term care homes and centers in the Lower Mainland. The preliminary results have been hopeful with the majority of patients excited to play with the robots, and already forming deep bonds.

“They find them like a cat that you don’t have to feed, take out, clean up. It’s like a friend to you, and it’s a companion,” says Hung. “Not only do [the residents] talk about it amongst themselves, they [make] jewelry for the robots and clothing […] that is the piece that gives them meaning in old age.”

Human-generated emotions

Hung says the Lovot robots even appear to feel things deeply too.

“It is far more advanced than [earlier forms of robots]. One time we were in a loud setting, and the robot retreated under a table. It reacts and backs off when some people talk to them in a harmful way,” says Hung. “And they have these ways to develop your love. Kiwi looked up at me once when I was giving a lecture, and it really looked like it was listening.”

Earlier this month, says Hung, the robots were brought to Vancouver General Hospital’s Willow Bean Cafe, or what has been termed “the robot cafe.” There patients suffering from mental health diseases could grab a coffee or tea and interact with Kiwi and Mango, who wore Halloween costumes.

“There is no doubt that the robot brought joy and happiness to people during the time they were with them,” says Hung. “But, of course, there are some people who are worried about the fact that robots would replace human love. Some people are just angry at the robots. It makes them really worry about existential issues.”

But with the beginning of the study currently underway, Hung and her team are optimistic about what is to come. For the remainder of the year, the IDEA lab will spend four week increments introducing Kiwi and Mango in long-term care homes, and conducting focus groups and one-to-one interviews with elderly adults and their families. Lovots will simultaneously be studied in Singapore and Hong Kong, as part of the agreement with its manufacturers to facilitate a three-country cross-cultural study.

“It is a way for us to see how social robots will be in their life. Now, it is Lovots, but who knows what the future holds. There may be other robots,” says Hung.

While Lovot’s robots are currently only available for permanent use in Japan and Denmark, with the help of Hung and her team, Kiwi and Mango could make Canada their third nest.