Robots are just plain cool. Maybe they'll never have the kind of heart that Johnny 5 had in Short Circuit, but many companies are designing robots that can assist you in every day tasks. Some of them you may remember us chatting about, like WowWee's SCOTY, Japan's Robot Escorts, and the HRP-2.

Now, there's the 5-foot RI-MAN Humanoid Robot, created by the Japanese research team Riken, that can see, hear, smell, and even carry human beings--particularly those that are elderly. RI-MAN is equipped with sensors that show it a body's weight and position. So, I guess this takes the "I've fallen and I can't get up" idea to new levels.

So why a robot that can carry the elderly? Apparently, Japan is expecting a major increase in elderly care due to people living longer, so the RI-MAN would aid in carrying a person to the bathroom, to bed, or wherever they need to go.

Toshiharu Mukai, one of the research team leaders, "...would like to develop a capacity to detect a human's health condition through his breath."

All I know is, thank goodness I'll have someone to carry me when I'm 80.

[via Gizmodo]