Japan's Sony Corporation has unveiled a prototype robot that can sing and dance.
The human-shaped SDR-4X can sing in four-part harmony, shake its hips and wave its arms in tempo.
This robot will cost as much as one car, a luxury car
Sony Corporate Executive VP Toshitada Doi
The company says the robot can also recognise faces, voices and names, hold simple conversations and pick itself up when it is pushed over.
But it is an expensive toy that a company executive says will cost as much as a luxury car.
Company officials say they hope the robot will be able to provide entertainment and companionship for its owners.
"This robot was designed to live with people in homes," said Sony Corporate Executive Vice-President Toshitada Doi.
Sony hopes the robot, which is 60 centimetres (24 inches) tall, will come on to the market at the end of the year.
Robot with 'personality'
The creators say the appeal of the SDR-4X is its personality, like Sony's hot-selling Aibo robotic pet, which uses much of the same software.
One of SDR-4X's predecessors, Aibo, was already a popular toy
Drawing from its vocabulary of 60,000 words, an SDR-4X can ask a guest in a high, squeaky voice: "Please hold still for a minute while I memorise your face."
It can also walk on uneven surfaces and come when it is called.
Equipped with two cameras, it can tell the difference between the edge of a table and patterns on the floor - a distinction that was harder for Aibo, with only one camera "eye", to make.
"By inputting music and lyrics data into the robot, it can produce a singing voice with vibrato," Sony said.
The company added that the robot could carry out "complicated, personalised [dancing] performances."
The heads of the International Space Station (ISS) agencies from Canada, Europe, Japan, Russia and the United States met in Tokyo, Japan, on March 11, 2010, to review ISS cooperation. From the left are Dr. Keiji Tachikawa, President of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, Charles Bolden, NASA Administrator; Jean-Jacques Dordain, Director General of the European Space Agency; Anatoly N. Permirov, Head of the Russian Space Agency; and, Dr. Steve MacLean, President of the Canadian Space Agency. With the assembly of the ISS nearing completion and the capability to support a full-time crew of six established, they noted the outstanding opportunities now offered by the ISS for on-orbit research and for discovery including the operation and management of the world's largest international space complex. The heads of agency reaffirmed the importance of full exploitation of the station's scientific, engineering, utilization, and education potential. They noted that there are no identified technical constraints to continuing ISS operations beyond the current planning horizon, and that the partnership is currently working to certify on-orbit elements through 2028. They emphasized their common intent to undertake the necessary procedures within their respective governments to reach consensus later this year on the continuation of the ISS to the next decade. Image Credit: JAXA...
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