NAO Robot

Aldebaran Robotics of France, inventor of a humanoid robot (dubbed the NAO) that can see, speak and hear. It is also capable of communicating with other robots, which would be highly useful when unleashing them into disaster relief missions such as the tsunami ravaged reactors in Japan.

While the Nao stands at slightly less than 2 feet (58cm) it would be well suited to work in conditions where space is limited.

According to the manufacturer, there are plans to roll out a larger version called Romeo which will be nearly 5 feet tall (1m 40cm).

It is estimated that the use for such robots represents approximately $3.3 billion annually (as of data from 2010).

The NAO has already been sold in 40 countries and over 1,300 of these robots are already in service.

Want your own NAO now? A recent search turned up a price tag of around $15,000.