Family Nanny robot is just five years and $1,500 away from being your new best friend

While Japan's busy preparing its robotic invasion on the moon, China's Siasun Robot & Automation Co., Ltd. has its eyes on Planet Earth instead. Meet Family Nanny, a two-foot-seven, 55-pound robot that can talk, email, text, detect gas leaks, and run around on its two wheels for eight hours on a single two-hour charge. No, this Teletubby-like bot won't be cooking for you, but it'll make great chatty company for the elderly while it relays vital stats back to health monitoring systems. In case of emergencies such as a gas leak, the Family Nanny will alert the owner via text and email. Not bad for ¥10,000 ($1,465), we'd say, but we'll remain skeptical on its chatting skills until it launches -- supposedly sometime around 2015. An early video of two prototypes in action after the break.

[immski Posted Apr 30th 2010 11:17AM]

So it is supposed to have a conversation with you?

[who said what Posted Apr 30th 2010 11:43AM]

@immski

It'd be a sad sad day when a robot is your BFF!

[KGBSmurf Posted Apr 30th 2010 12:00PM]

@immski
Yes and eyes will turn red.. Good Morning, Dave.

[F C Posted Apr 30th 2010 11:17AM]

Wont cook, wash or change diapers so whats the point? Who exactly will this be marketed to?

[Incorrigible Posted Apr 30th 2010 11:24AM]

@F C
To monitor you daily habits and report back to Skynet.

[wickywills Posted Apr 30th 2010 11:31AM]

Family Nanny? Should have called it "Fanny"

...i'm such a child!

[sweet greggo Posted Apr 30th 2010 11:42AM]

rosie!!!

[KAL326 Posted Apr 30th 2010 1:42PM]

@sweet greggo Nope, Rosie would cook and clean. This is at best a KIRF Rosie.

[patches66 Posted Apr 30th 2010 5:29PM]

@sweet greggo
the shape of the body, and the color of the one in back, definitely remind me of rosie. it just needs one leg and an apron.

[Bteeuwen Posted Apr 30th 2010 11:47AM]

Now I just have to learn Chinese to be able to talk to it

[bwl Posted Apr 30th 2010 11:51AM]

I'll wait for the one developed by the French.

[Boyo Posted Apr 30th 2010 11:52AM]

I am SOOOOOOO glad I can grow old knowing I don't need to have children to take care of me, I can have a robot do it, it will treat me like a god, OOOOr drill a 10" hole in my head as I sleep and run off with my sexbot.

[Singular Trap Posted Apr 30th 2010 11:56AM]

Can I call it Rosie? And ask it to walk Astro?

[SuperModified Posted Apr 30th 2010 11:57AM]

I just read that the new iPhone will have a small nuclear power cell and a battery life of 10yrs befor needing recharged, also comes with USB hub to power your home during a power outage. Anyone else hear about this?

[immski Posted Apr 30th 2010 11:57AM]

I agree. I just don't get the point of this thing.

[patches66 Posted Apr 30th 2010 5:30PM]

@immski
think "i've fallen and i can't get up," only hundreds of times more expensive. everybody wins.

[dinkydarko Posted Apr 30th 2010 11:59AM]

http://www.80scartoons.co.uk/telebugs/telebugs12.jpg

reminds me of telebugs, except evil lloking

[techlord Posted Apr 30th 2010 12:09PM]

Irobot

[xXslagathoorXx Posted Apr 30th 2010 12:13PM]

Warn me of gas leaks....its the one who probably started it...

[R3vXX Posted Apr 30th 2010 1:26PM]

@xXslagathoorXx -- It can warn me of gas leaks all it likes, so long as it doesn't take it upon itself to seal the offending orifice.

[bombastinator Posted Apr 30th 2010 12:47PM]

now theres a reason to get childeren to learn programming again:
Hack your damn nanny robot to leave you alone. There's a childrens power trip if ever there was one

[GaryZ Posted Apr 30th 2010 1:20PM]

Just don't give them lasers

[Anita1 Posted Apr 30th 2010 2:39PM]

Where'd you get that conversion? 100 yen is roughly equivalent to $1 going a tad over, making 10,000 yen around $105.
I'm assuming the original yen amount is mistyped, because an iPod nano in Japan is more than this robot.

[Richard Lai Posted Apr 30th 2010 3:12PM]

@Anita1 You're getting China and Japan mixed up here -- that symbol applies to both the yuan and the yen.

[Anita1 Posted Apr 30th 2010 3:35PM]

@Richard Lai Oh, haha, I'm an idiot sorry XD

[Rendiggy Posted Apr 30th 2010 2:43PM]

Put on an apron and give here a feather duster and it's Rosie from the Jetsons!