Created by the UK’s Chris Clarke, this robotic baby will writhe around, struggling in its crib in such a convincing manner that we have taken yet another step closer to the uncanny valley. This is one baby that I hope it will never grow up, and someone might just make a new genre in movies – techno-horror, where robots like these go on a murdering spree, only to have good ol’ Chucky intervene and save the day for us humans. I won’t diss those dolls anymore, I promise, as there is an even greater nemesis out there now.

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Multi-platinum selling Pop & R&B singing sensation Justin Bieber also made an appearance with the mRobo Ultra Bass yesterday, and if you happen to be at CES this year, you might want to make a beeline for the TOSY Robotics booth at the LVCC South Hall Ground Level.

With 2GB of internal memory to store a fraction of your digital music collection, the battery powered mRobo Ultra Bass will be able to store around 500 songs within. All data or songs are transferred using the built-in USB port, where you can then select the track of your choice thanks to the included remote control. As whether you would want to rock to Justin Bieber or a far more accomplished musician, the integrated speaker will do the job for you, producing bass at 40Hz.

The moment music starts to play, the mRobo, who is capable of listening to its own music, music from other devices, or music streamed via Bluetooth, will start to perform right away, “transforming” just like our favorite robots from the Hasbro franchise do, “growing” a head out of nowhere, with its legs and arms popping up from its previously static configuration. Regardless of the genre of music, the mRobo Ultra Bass will be able to run through a series of pre-programmed dance moves to virtually any genre of music.

According to Ho Vinh Hoang, Founder and CEO, TOSY Robotics JSC, “mRobo is one of the most innovative and interactive entertainment devices ever introduced. It gives music and dance lovers the ability to enjoy their passions in a whole new way. Not only do they have a great new way to listen to their favorite songs but they also have a new partner to dance to their favorite music with. We’re thrilled to be able to unveil mRobo Ultra Bass here at CES 2012 with the help of one of the world’s most recognized stars, Justin Bieber.”

The mRobo tips the scales at approximately 3.3 pounds and measures 4.3″ x 6.3″ x 7.9″, and will stand at under 18″ in height when it is turned into a robot. Expect the mRobo Ultra Bass to retail for $199 a pop when it hits the market this fall – perhaps with a free pre-loaded Justin Bieber album?

Press Release

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The “before” is the photo of Hajime Sakamoto, and he is working on a genuine 13-foot robot like you see in science-fiction films like Real Steel. Sakamoto is gesturing to what will be the legs of this robot, and you can see the pastel-colored head, arms, and torso in the “after” shot.

The Hajime Research Institute is looking for contributors and sponsors to make this robo-giant, and there is even going to be room for a human pilot. I suppose that what he is wanting is some sort of robot that can be operated for heavy lifting, maybe?

If the 13 foot tall robot is successful, then he plans to follow it up with a 26 foot robot. Then he wants to do a 59 foot robot, and so on. You can see where this is going: a giant robot that will stomp through Japan. Someone better call the Power Rangers.

Okay, that is getting into some science-fiction imagination territory, but I guess Sakamoto really wants to develop a giant robot. Perhaps he really wants to see science fiction come to life. He is not alone.

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Aldebaran Robotics designed this NAO robot to help teach autistic children, or help others not capable of autonomy. That’s right, this is not a toy, and there is a video available after the jump so you can see what is capable of.

Look at the thing, it has prehensile hands, for crying out loud! I also love the dual cameras that are capable of facial recognition, as well as the four microphones. You can talk to it with a vocal recognition program known as Nuance, and teach it a few things like how to play catch, for example.

In case you are wondering if the NAO Next Gen will be for sale, the answer is “yes”. I don’t yet have a price on this guy, but I would imagine that it would be pricy.

So is the NAO the beginning of a new era of servant robots? I can easily imagine a future where these tiny robots make my bed, do my dishes, and other household chores that I would rather not do. This image is plucked from several science fiction movies, and I wonder if we really are headed into this type of era of servant robots.

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You will notice that has six feet so it can walk along on the floor in a creepy fashion like a weird spider, but it can also curl up into a ball and roll once its feet are retracted.

You can watch as it does some interesting movements like some funky dancing, and you can see that it is quite large. I thought from the picture you see here that it was the size of a tennis ball, but it actually is the size of a globe.

The MorpHex is designed by Norwegian engineer Kare Halvorsen, and he used a globe from Toys “R” Us. He also used 25 servos, a Basicmicro ARC-32 board, an XBee radio, a 2S 5000mAh LiPo battery pack, and a Turnigy 8 amp regulator.

So far, the designer can make the MorpHex crawl, but he can’t make it roll in a controlled direction. This reminds me of something from a science fiction movie, like the rolling robots from Star Wars Episode I. I’m not looking forward to the day these creepy ball robots chase after me like those spider robots from Minority Report.

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The reason why is because this structure is made by robots. Not just any robots, but flying robots. There are about four flying robots who serve as construction workers, and they have the quadrocopter construction of Parrot’s AR.Drone. There is a video of it after the jump showing a camera on one of these robots putting a block into place, and it is surprisingly precise.

I’m not certain how confident I would be just standing around a tower built by robots, but if you look on the video, it appears that there are a whole group of people standing around like they are at a party. Granted, the blocks are made of polystyrene foam, but I don’t feel comfortable in any room with a giant card house in it.

By the way, the tower is supposed to be a model of a futuristic city that is meant to house 30,000 people. Man, I wonder if one day, real flying robots will construct such a city.

For now, you can see this “Flight Assembled Architecture” at the FRAC center through February 19. This project is the work of architects Fabio Gramazio and Matthias Kohler, with the help of ETH Zurich roboticist Raffaello D’Andrea.

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