PAWTUCKET, R.I. (AP) — A Rhode Island-based toy company and an Ivy League university are working together to create robotic pets that could help senior citizens with dementia.

WPRI-TV reports Brown University researchers are adding artificial intelligence to Hasbro's Joy for All toys in a project called Affordable Robotic Intelligence for Elderly Support. The project, funded by a $1 million grant, involves adding sensors to the cats and dogs to help seniors remember what they might forget.

Ted Fischer, Hasbro vice president of business development, calls their partnership "hugely powerful" and "super exciting."

The project is expected to last three years. Brown University plans to create a prototype next year, and test the robotic pets with senior citizens in 2019.

If successful, Hasbro could bring the product to store shelves.