TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's growing elderly population from will be able to buy
companionship in the form of a 45-centimeter (18-inch) robot, programmed to
provide just enough small talk to keep them from going senile.

Snuggling Ifbot, who is dressed in an astronaut suit with a glowing face, has
the conversation ability of a five-year-old, the language level needed to
stimulate the brains of senior citizens, its software designer said.

If a person tells Snuggling Ifbot, "I'm bored today," the robot might respond,
"Are you bored? What do you want to do?"

To a statement, "Isn't it nice today?", the robot could say, "It is a fine
autumn day," by detecting the season from its internal clock.

"This robot has in its memory several million patterns of word phrases that it
uses when spoken to," said Takao Ohsuga, senior executive at Dream Supply, a
Nagoya-based IT firm which developed the product's software.

"By talking with this robot, seniors who are often alone can stimulate their
brains and avoid becoming forgetful," he told AFP.

The company has received 128 pre-launch orders for the robot which hit stores
Wednesday at a cost of 576,000 yen (5,600 dollars).

Other than the conversation function, the robot has 15 programs to keep the
elderly thinking and healthy, including singing songs, reading out quiz games
and old news, and inquiring about health functions.

"In the future, we want to add other functions to the robot, such as emergency
signals that elderly owners can use to contact local medical personnel," Ohsuga
said.

While for now Snuggling Ifbot speaks only Japanese, its makers plan to program
the robot in English -- not for export, but to teach the language to Japanese
children.

The Japanese are famous for their longevity, with more than 23,000 people aged
100 or over, in part due to a traditionally healthy diet and active lifestyle.

Japanese society is set to be getting ever grayer as more young people put off
marriage and decide against having children. Japan's birth rate hit an all time
low of 1.29 children per woman in 2003.

The robot was developed in cooperation with Business Design Laboratory, Futaba
Industrial Co., and Brother Industries.