Men are from Mars, Robots are from Mitsubishi
From: Financial Times - 12/09/2005 - P. 9
By: Stephen Pincock

As Carnegie Mellon roboticist Daniel Wilson outlines in his book, "How to
Survive a Robot Uprising," the field of robotics has taken off in recent
years, with researchers around the world developing robotic applications to
do everything from vacuuming to exploring space alongside man. Several
Japanese companies are developing robots that can serve as in-home
assistants, link up to the Internet to respond to questions, and serve as a
kind of companion. Toyota recently released its Partner Robot with the
ability to play the trumpet through lips endowed with sensitivity and fingers
with human-like dexterity. The convergence of robotics and artificial
intelligence has enabled researchers to develop devices such as Sony's Qrio,
a small robot that knows to hold out its arms if it is falling, and can pick
itself up from the ground. Embodied intelligence seeks to equip robots with
such cognitive abilities, though ingraining many basic components of
intelligence still eludes roboticists. Robots still cannot understand what
gives an object its properties, though roboticists are working to give their
creations the ability to learn by experience. The international group of
researchers working together in the RobotCub project is trying to create a
child-sized robot that can learn from interactions with its environment, just
as people do. Many researchers feel that people's perceptions of the role of
robots must change if they will ever be accepted as legitimate companions.
Mitsubishi has begun taking orders for its Wakamaru robot, an in-home
personal assistant that wakes you up in the morning, reports the weather and
the headlines, and then greets you in the evening with any telephone
messages. "We have tried to create a robot you can have a relationship with,"
said Mitsubishi's Ken Onishi.  

Links:

Wilson Combines Facts and Fun in "How to Survive a Robot Uprising"
http://www.carnegiemellontoday.com/article.asp?Aid=274

Partner Robots
http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/special/robot/index.html

Robotcub
http://www.robotcub.org/

Wakamaru
http://www.mhi.co.jp/kobe/wakamaru/english/

Wakamaru Housesitter Robots Go On Sale
http://robots.net/article/1615.html

Wakamaru Bot at Your Service
http://wired.com/news/business/0,1367,58593,00.html

Meet Wakamaru, the Linux-powered humanoid robot
http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS4903202160.html