① Humans have been keeping animals as pets for tens of thousands of years, but have you ever imagined we would have robotic pets instead of real animals in the future? Jean-Loup Rault, PhD, an animal scientist at the University of Melbourne in Australia, believes robot companions (伴侣) are going to be our new pets. There are a lot of benefits (好处) for a robotic pet. “You don’t have to feed it, you don’t have to walk it, it won’t make a mess in your house, and you can go on holidays without feeling bad,” Rault said. It’s not clear whether or not robot pets would be completely instead of real ones. When a Japanese robot seal called Paro was introduced to to hospital patients, it helped improve their moods (心情) and build social relationship.