Within 10 years, personal robots are expected to be as common in Japan as personal computers and cellular phones. One of the first humanoids on the market will be Honda's Asimo, a child-sized android, that can walk, climb stairs and negotiate corners. It can turn out the lights and do other small tasks. The humanoid robot is being outfitted with programs and artificial sensors that will make it autonomous. This fall, Honda plans to start renting Asimo to companies and museums for use as a visitors' guide for an undisclosed fee.
Consumers also rely on robots to perform housekeeping duties.
The commercial success of the robotic lawnmower and robotic vacuum cleaners suggests most people are very open to single-function robots to handle daily tasks. And this summer Steven Spielberg is expected to help ignite the consumer robotic craze with his movie AI, which will feature supersensitive, superhuman robots. At Sony, engineers are developing the next generation of humanoid robots. The company last fall demonstrated its prototype at Japan's Robodex, a new expo for personal robots. Sony's robots, dubbed SDRs for Sony Dream Robots, performed all kinds of acrobatics, jumped, danced and kicked balls.