“As this short piece from China View attests (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-07/20/content_3238351.htm), the Chinese, along with the rest of the world, cannot get enough of robots, especially those that are cute, cuddly and do not seem to perform any useful function other than entertain us. This fascination with robotics, especially those robots that are humanoid in form and appear to be multifunctional, is viewed by many as the bane of the industry. After all, how can a robotic pipe inspector compete with the likes of ET? Those of us that tend to view the glass as half full, however, understand that the strong emotional appeal of robotics, for either the right or wrong reasons, makes it easier for emerging robotics applications to be accepted by society at large. That goes double for robotics toys and “entertainment robots”.

- Dan Kara

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