Actroid

Somebody call Rick Deckard; there's a replicant off the reservation.

I've stated before that I'm a technophile, and I stand by that, but this is a bit creepy. It's very life-like-- in that "I really hope it doesn't go haywire, come over the desk, and snap my neck like a rotten pencil" sort of way.

Industrial and home service robots are an inevitability, and over the next three decades that industry will grow very much like the home computer industry has since 1975. At first it will develop as curios such as this one, and in garage hobbyist fits and starts, and then with a "breakthrough" model, similar to what the Apple II and IBM PC were in the early 1980's. Judging by the current rate of development, you'll probably be able to buy second-generation, useful home robotics by 2015. And I look forward to the new techno-adventure, believe me. But I'm not too sure I want them looking quite this life-like. I rather prefer the C-3PO approach to aesthetic design.

You can see a video of it at the manufacturer's homepage. (It's in Japanese; click through the bottom banner, then the second link down.)