Just got back from attending a show put together by Honda on their humanoid robot, Asimo. As Asimo walked on to the stage, it was a magical moment. Never before have I seen a human like robot so close.
As Asimo greeted us and waved to us, my daughter and my niece both six year olds, had a very bewildered look on their faces. Not sure, what to expect from a robot, they had all sorts of questions.
The robot is truly amazing. It can walk both forward and backward. It can move sideways, ascend and descend steps, dance, kick a ball, wave, using facial recognition software can remember and identify faces etc..
As the presenter was talking about the capabilities and the robot demonstrating it, I almost forgot that this is actually a machine. I actually felt sympathetic knowing that this machine is as innocent as a child. In spite of being technically so advanced, it does not possess the feelings of man, nor is it treacherous or cunning.
Without realizing, I kind of became attached to this machine and was sad to see it go back from the stage waving us goodbye.