House-Sitting Robot Hits Store Shelves in Japan

Roborior, a house-sitting robot armed with a digital camera, infrared sensors, and a videophone is on sale in select Japanese department stores. The house-sitting robot can detect break-ins with its infrared sensors and then call the owners cell phone and stream video to the tiny screen. At US$2600 each the Roborior is not cheap. For those that require something a little more substantial, Tmsuk, the manufacturer of Roborior, has produced a four legged version called Banryu. This one is the size of a large dog and sells for around US$18,000. It’s not supposed to shed hair or sleep on the furniture which could make it quite popular — via Slashdot