Slowly but surely the future is coming and you can be sure robots will be a part of it. But before they take over our little blue planet and humans inevitably become their slaves, they will serve mankind by performing tasks deemed too menial for humans. One of these tasks is dancing to pop tunes that have a shelf life similar to that of a potato, as you can see in the videos below.

Developed by Aldebaran Robotics, a French robotics company, the NAO robot (pronounced now) is an autonomous, programmable humanoid robot that features an impressive array of instrumentation. Standing at 58cm tall the NAO robot features an onboard Linux-powered multimedia system, including four microphones for voice recognition and sound localization, two speakers for text-to-speech synthesis and two HD cameras for computer vision, including facial and shape recognition and comes with a software suite that includes a graphical programming tool, simulation software and a software developer’s kit.

Designed for research and education, it is a versatile platform perfect for exploring a wide variety of research topics in robotics, computer sciences, human-machine interaction, and the social sciences. The NAO is also being used as a communication tool for children with Autism who seem impulsively attracted to technology therefore allowing the ridiculously adorable robot to become the perfect bridge between technology and our human social world.

The NAO bot is already an instant hit with kids and adults alike and is quickly becoming a celebrity in its own right, making appearances on shows like the ‘ABC News Breakfast Show’, HBO’s ‘East Bound and Down’ and the ‘The Graham Norton Show‘. So before the kids start getting all up in your grill about how they cannot live without this little bundle of awesomeness keep in mind they sell for around $20,000 USD and are currently only available for research and education purposes.

Check out these cheeky videos:

Source: Aldebaran Robotics