Developed a few years ago by the roboticists at Osaka University, the Repliee R-1 robot made a rare public appearance at last week's CEATEC conference in Tokyo. Sporting a silicon skin and utilizing 50 sensors, the tiny robot was designed to mimic the appearance and movements of a 5 year-old child.

While the effect of the child-bot is decidedly more hauntingly creepy than cute (see video here), the sister of the previous Repliee Q-1 reminds us that we are probably just a decade or so away from having these kinds of humanoid robots walking our streets and giving us real nightmares.

Via PC Answers