Come on ETRI, at least make Rabie look like Smurfette or something a bit more cuddly. And "Rabie?" Do you really have to name your latest robot after a fatal viral disease? Perhaps that name is a clue to how this robot intends to "play" with the kids it's designed for. Rabie is a networked bot which transmits video of your children wetting themselves in fear direct to your mobile phone. Good times. Watch Rabie in action after the break. Only you'll have to suffer though about 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, 12 seconds of the arguably more interesting, Kobie the killer koala first.

[Via B2Btv]

Korea's Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute recently announced that it's developed a new sensor system for seniors designed to detect falls -- for times when your "smart" brace doesn't work, we suppose. While similar systems have been around for a while, ETRI's does appear to boast a few notable advantages, largely due to its dependence on tried and true cellphone technology. That allows a series of calls to be set in motion at the first sign of trouble, the first going to the senior in question to check if there actually is a problem, with the hospital's emergency center and the person's family then notified if there is. What's more, the system is also equipped with GPS, allowing the person in peril to be easily located. Eventually, the researchers say the system could be adapted for use with any cellphone, or simply take advantage of the Internet if the senior is wearing it in a nursing home or hospital. Look for it to be available sometime next year.

Meet Kobie, the cuddly Koala on what appears to be life-support. We think Babelfish translation says is best, "it is a fondling elder brother robot of the nose Allah form which gives an emotional stability." Indeed. By which we assume they mean the latest in elderly care robots. This one, developed by Korea's ETRI can detect its owner's touches and react with a reassuring leg thumping and realistic movement of the head and torso. That's sweet.

What's the Roomba got, Bleeps and bloops? Love in its cold metallic heart? Pshaw. Korea's ETRI just unveiled it's new ROMI bot, which can love your family so much better. Not only is ROMI quite the cutie, but it can clean floors with the best of 'em, all while taking commands via (presumably) WiFi and CDMA, recording video with its big camera eyes, and vocalizing via a speech synthesizer. We're sure it's all just a proud, fragile shell, overcompensating for ROMI's general depression and dissatisfaction for the world that give him birth, but we suppose we'll find out when we see this guy at CES and as him a few psychoanalytical questions -- don't worry, it's all in the line of duty.

[Via Akihabara]

Besides working on non-exploding batteries and Flexible OLEDs, Korea's ETRI is hard at work on the underlying technology of their Body Area Network (BAN). Yes, that would be the human body area network, like the Bluetooth PAN only much more personal. Really though, it's just another variation of Microsoft's (and someday even Sony's) patented technology which uses the human body as the electrical conduit between devices. So assuming you wanted to print a document from ETRI's prototype wearable above, you just start the job on the device, touch the Touch-And-Play (TAP) enabled printer and voila, out pops your hard copy. Sweet... and creepy, but still pretty sweet. Assuming of course, that ETRI has met their data transfer goals of 1MB/s by now -- otherwise, you'll look pretty silly poking the printer as you strain under the weight of that modest 2.4Kbps data rate achieved last year. Just remember, never confuse the work of Korea's Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute with the that of the Korea's Advanced Institute of Science and Technology -- no one likes a splitter. Now kick back, grab a sack of wolf nipple chips and check the pics after the break.

Korea's ETRI (Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute) is here to remind us that they, and others, are still working hard to bring Flexible OLED to market. This and other FOLED prototypes are on display right now at the Next Generation Computing Show in Korea. Ok, you can't knit a sweater with it or anything, but Flexible OLED technology is certainly progressing beyond the staid FOLED displays seen thus far. Ready for the Nokia 888 communicator? Certainly not, but definitely a step in the right direction. More prototypes after the break.

Check it Sony, 'cause if necessity is the mother of invention then you're about to be calling the ETRI daddy. Coming a bit too late for some, ETRI (Telecommunications Research Institute of Korea) have developed what they call a Critical Temperature Switch to prevent exploding batteries in mobile devices. Smaller, but more reliable than ceramic sensors, the new switches use a Mott Metal-Insulator Transistor or MIT, to prevent batteries from swelling and exploding in a violent discharge triggered by overheating. Ultimately, ETRI expects to integrate over 16,000 of the Critical Temperature Switches or 5,000 explosion-proof systems into a film just 2-inches in diameter. For the time being, they are looking for partners to develop their commercially ready technologies into product. Hey Sony, you paying attention?