Dancing Robots

Kunitake Ando, President of Sony, unveils the Japanese company's contribution to artificial intelligence: a dancing robot. Called QRIO, the mini figures were the smash sensation at the CeBIT opening on March 17. Traditionally, robotic automation has served to perform tasks in place of humans, but Sony decided to create a "partner" that plays with people instead. The entertainment robot is a toy that talks, walks, reacts to outside influences like voices and facial expressions, and has a limited ability to think for itself.