Japanese research centers are rushing to develop robots that will share our lives. In the not too distant future, Japanese researchers promise us, we will take personal robots as much for granted as we do personal computers.

Categories already include humanoid robots, thinking robots, workman robots, support robots, and pet robots. Especially the latter has caught on phenomenally after Sony introduced its AIBO dog like robot. Companies like Segatoys and Tomy have rushed out with similar robots that are simpler and cheaper.

But the biggest expectations are reserved for personal robots, which may enter the market within ten years or sooner.

Without doubt, the big attention getter is Honda's independently walking robot 'ASIMO'. The name stands for (A)dvanced (S)tep in (I)nnovative (MO)bility. What sets it apart from similar robots--besides the fact that it can actually walk like a human (1.6 km/h), an amazing feat--is that it is compact (1.2 m tall, 45 cm wide, 44 cm deep), lightweight (43 kg), has wide arm operating parameters (forward, backward, up, down, left, right, rotation), is easy to operate and has a very friendly design. In a now famous commercial the robot dances the samba with a little girl. It is a delight to watch.

'Infanoid' has been developed by Kyoto's Keihanna Human Info-Communication Research Center to study communication between people and robots. Infanoid's aim is to acquire the ability of "attention-sharing". The robot's abilities are pretty amazing. To monitor a person's attention, the robot detects a face, captures the direction of the person's gaze and identifies the object the person is looking at. This results in "shared attention". The robot can observe what people are perceiving from the target and what they are doing to it.

Tokyo's TMSUK Inc has developed "TMSUK IV", a humanoid type robot that can be controlled remotely using PHS networks. The CCD camera on the head of the robot transmits to the monitor of the controller. Controlling the robot is like driving a car. Thanks to the use of PHS the robot's moving range is unlimited within networks. Additionally the position of the controller could be anywhere in the world. This makes it possible for "TMSUK" to substitute for people in distant or dangerous areas.

NEC's PaPeRo is described as a 'Partner type Personal Robot'. At 38.5 cm high it is a dwarf, yet still weighs in at 5 kg. It can freely roam around the house and function as a guard. It records voice and video messages and can send them by e-mail. PaPeRo can also remember up to 10 people and react to their voice commands. It has a vocabulary of about 3000 words.

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