A newly-proposed idea in the United Kingdom holds that seniors in the country could, within three years, start enjoying the company of robotic kittens in their households. According to leading psychiatrists, always having some company around could benefit the elderly, and could make them become more involved in daily activities. The new cats could also be outfitted with sensors that can detect when their owner is sick, or with flashing lights, which could warn the elderly when someone is at the door.

The proposition gets new meaning when considering statistical predictions of how the country's aging population will increase over the next decade. By 2020, it is estimated that the current number of seniors will increase by more than 50 percent, with even higher increases believed to take place afterwards. The new report was published on Thursday in the journal Royal Academy of Engineering.

It also draws attention to the fact that it's not technological issues that prevent this type of companions from being made in large numbers. Some believe that it's laws and regulations that drag this field of research behind, in that most laws are still in the age of automation, and not it the current one, of autonomous systems. There are also a number of ethical concerns that need to be addressed before monitoring systems are implemented in average homes.

For instance, some say, the autonomous robots could have the ability to record a large number of data from homes, such as the contents of the fridge, the health condition of its owners, how many times the phone or the door rings and so on. There are voices that say the regulatory background must be set in place before the first robotic cats make their way in seniors' everyday lives. “This is not constrained by the technological possibility of it so much as by the desire to do it – and that is bound up with all sorts of social factors,” explains Southampton University professor Will Stewart, who was also involved in the newly-published research.

“Our legal structures and ethical thinking are still in the age of automation. They have to catch up before our safety and quality of life can benefit from autonomous systems,” says Dr. Chris Elliott, an expert who also contributed to the new report. “We are trying to offer everybody the sort of service the rich would have had 50 years ago,” concludes Stewart, quoted by Reuters.