10 Most Scarily Advanced Robots In The World

2. NAO

NAO Evolution is the kind of robot you might expect to have in your home in the coming years.

It is essentially cut from the same cloth as ASIMO, but as a smaller, cheaper option, is much more likely to end up on the Christmas lists of the future.

Sure, NAO won't fold your washing or pull you from of a burning wreckage, but it certainly feels like something of a "gateway robot", getting us all used to the idea that these things are here to stay.

It features all of the usual sensors, language recognition and learning capabilities and is pretty dexterous - it can even play football (badly).

One of their current applications is to actually teach people about robotics, programming and engineering. They have an open, relatively simple and inexpensive platform and are commercially available (for a, ahem, small fee).

I don't know about you but, as someone who can't even keep a plant pot alive, I wouldn't mind one of these kicking around the house like some kind of space-age pet.