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SEE THE QRIO AT MOS

That's the Museum of Science, which is showing off two of the 10 or so known Sony QRIOS known to be in existence.

At 2 feet tall, the Sony QRIO looks like a cross between a mini-astronaut and the machines gone amok in “I, Robot.”
Four QRIOs danced for Beck’s “Hell Yes” video last year, and Wired magazine has ranked it No. 6 of its “50 Best Robots Ever.”
Only a handful of QRIO prototypes exist, and three will be on display this weekend at the Museum of Science. Sony’s QRIOs star in half-hour demonstrations at 10 a.m., noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. today and tomorrow in the exhibit hall, included with the price of admission.
One QRIO stands behind glass as part of the museum’s “Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination” exhibit, showing how much closer society is to acheiving droids such as C-3PO.
The two demonstration QRIOs offer preprogrammed speeches and choreographed movements,including tai chi, salsa and Arabian dances. No breakdancing, but the QRIOs do offer the Karate Kid “crane” pose and even a move or two of “The Robot” dance.
Next stop: ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars”?
Not just yet.
“We’re still trying to figure out the features of what people want the robots to do,” said Todd Kozuki, senior engineer with Sony’s robot division.
So far, QRIO can walk, talk, respond to motion, remember bits of past conversations, and it has the capability to ID up to 10 people by face and voice recognition.
If QRIO falls, it braces its fall, then stands itself back up.
It speaks fluent Japanese, with a vocabulary of 65,000 words.
It does not rock ’em or sock ’em (too expensive to break ’em), but Sony engineers are tinkering with other possible modes, including one that turns QRIO into a talking remote control for your TV.
“We do envision in the future having this type of robot in the home,” Kozuki said.
Sorry: Much like an Oompa Loompa, QRIO is not for sale, no matter how much you ask your parents to buy you one.
Sony does sell a talking robotic dog named AIBO for $2,000. Some AIBOs also are on display at the Museum of Science.

RELATED:
See the Beck video from this link in two different forms (original video, or one shot).
Learn more about the QRIO.
Buy an AIBO?