Paparazzi Bots will chase you down until you love them

Sony's Party-shot dock is fun and all but it suffers from one major limitation: it's fixed in space. Oh sure, it'll pan and tilt around its base until the last reveler is unconscious, but it won't go to where the action is. That's where the Ohio State University developed Paparazzi Bot comes in. The autonomous, sensor-laden, mobile robot stands at human height and decides for itself whether or not to snap your photo based upon your facial expression (hint: it likes smiles). If chosen, the bot stops, aims, shoots and uploads your image to a social networking site for other robots to mock, presumably -- a kind of fleeting celebrity anointment as described by the bot's inventor, Ken Rinaldo; or a kind of precursor to robots with automatic weapons, if you ask us. Video demonstration after the break.