The Melrose Free Press reports Nexi, the MIT Media Lab’s emotion-displaying robot, visited the Milano Senior Center earlier this week. Media lab researchers tagged along to do research on how the robot –a white plastic, emotive head perched atop DigitRobotics UBot — interacted with the elderly.

One woman, who declined to give her name but said she’s a regular at the Milano Senior Center, said Nexi is “interesting” and that other seniors were “intrigued, like I am.”

Asked if she thought Nexi could be used as a senior’s assistant, helping out around the house, the woman said it made her think more of technologies such as artificial appendages and the robots that now do much of the work in car factories.

“To me it’s almost like something I never would have anticipated, but now I would take it very much for granted. Why not?” she said.