I want one. I also want to be a part of things that involve social experimentation on other peoples' children. God, i'm so jealous.

It is thought the robots could enrich the classroom environment by demonstrating social skills and good behaviour. Scientists studied how children aged between 10 months and two years played with the "social robot" when left in the same room.

The Japanese-built prototype robot, QRIO, can interact with humans thanks to an array of mechanical and computational skills which enable it to walk, sit, stand, move its arms, turn its head, dance and giggle.

Scientists found that children's social contact with the robot increased over time and they found the machine more interesting when it behaved in a "human" interactive way than when it was programmed to dance randomly. At first, the children touched the robot on its face and head, but after time they touched only its hand and arms, mimicking the behaviour of children with other humans.

Scientists conducted 45 study sessions with the robot over five months. By the end of the study the children were treating the robot like a friend rather than a toy.

Some children cried when the robot fell over and tried helping it to stand up, even when told by their teachers to leave it alone. Others covered it with a blanket and said "night-night" when it lay down to sleep, said the researchers in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Just make sure the robot doesn't get its hands on anything sharp.

Nobody ever gives me their kid to experiment with. *grumble grumble*

Those kids are gonna be messed up when they get older, mark my words. An electronic device is never a substitute for a real live friend.

On a completely different topic, I'm gonna go home and play video games now.

No one bother me.