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Engadget reports that they have helpers to sing, talk and lift OAP's. . . . they look like giant lego men!

It looks like they've had them for at least a few months. Why can't they just employ care workers like normal people? Having said that, lifting people can be difficult, and when you see how elderly Japan's population is (and is projected to be) then you begin to see the logic behind it.

Robots "expressing emotions" sound slightly freaky though.

Japan are really embracing the whole robotics thing. It is amazing because I don't really see it happening here. We are the equivalent of technological plebs. . . . Apparently the the toilets are also incredibly complicated. Though this is from a friend who does not know what the keyboard shortcut for 'copy' and 'paste' is. . . .

I immediately thought of the "three shells" from Demolition Man. There's some theory with human perception of robots that if you make them look too realistic, or behave too realistically, it begins to freak people out. The Japanese are probably better conditioned to their new robot friends than we are.

i dont think this idea is new as i have long suspected john to be a 'droid living among us aka blade runner for years. why else would he be so untight and unemotional? the truth is out he should be de-activated immediately

That is a little harsh, I think we should dismantle him first all in the name of science and then see if he still works! :D This reminds be of a Douglas Adam's quote:

Douglas Adams wrote:If you try and take a cat apart to see how it works, the first thing you have on your hands is a non-working cat.

I bet when we put him back together that there's some important looking pieces left over!

That always happens. . . .

But everything always works and you just put the left-over bits in a box to use another time...