Takanori Shibata of Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, brought his creation to America and exhibited at the Kennedy Center where Heather Whyte, director of Vinson Hall, instantly fell for this bot. And so Paro has become the new addition to the Vinson Hall's elderly retirement home. This cuddly cute Paro is a fur-covered robot and has become everybody's favorite as it is designed to snuggle, bat its eyelashes, waggle its tail and is simply adorable. Patients with severe memory loss are sometimes prone to psychiatric disturbances, including hallucinations and personality changes, and Paro might provide a way to calm them or at least shift their mood. Kathleen L. Martin head of Vinson Hall believes that this robot produces powerful emotional effect because it stimulates the senses on different levels and seems to communicate with people. It elicits feelings of compassion and pleasure that animals do. More over it is not threatening like living animals.

Vinson Hall, founded in 1969, has apartments for independent seniors who have served in the military or have been sponsored by someone in the military. It also has two assisted-living units, one of which specializes in working with people with dementia, that do not require military affiliation.

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