Best Inventions 2005: Bot Crazy

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Cool Cat
Inventor: Philips Research, Eindhoven, the Netherlands
Availability: Prototypes for research only
To Learn More: www.hitech-projects.com/icat
The notion of robot as home companion is nothing new, but iCat adds a human dimension to the job: an expressive face. Tell her to go away, and iCat will look sad. Praise her, and she will beam. Internal microphones can be used to record sounds and assist with speech recognition—iCat is multilingual—and 13 electric motors move her eyes, eyebrows, eyelids, mouth and head to produce the appropriate emotional response. iCat can also connect to the Net and display online info on your TV or read it aloud. One thing she won't do is rub against your leg.
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ROBB LEVIN, resident of Fairfax, Virginia, on the $15,000 lawsuit settlement made against Tareq and Michaele Salahi, the White House gate crashers, who are also involved in at least 15 other civil suits

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