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 If the Terminator were alive today, he'd be turning over in his grave. Robots are getting all warm and fuzzy on us. Except for a few smart vacuum cleaners, home robots haven't caught on the way manufacturers hoped. So, in an effort to boost sales, the industry is pushing a kinder, gentler robot.  
2007 saw the arrival of mechanical bugs, bears, dinosaurs, even an Elvis. The trend in 2008 will be "kid" bots, robots that mimic toddlers. But these go beyond dolls, into something new and unfamiliar. Threat
The first robots we all encountered were the movie kind. In science fiction, they have nearly always been threatening - Terminators or mechanical gladiators. This movie persona engendered real-life spectacles such as Robot Wars, where their press didn’t get any better.
Appliance
Next came the appliance movement. Now, robots were supposed to serve us - clean the rug. Fetch a beverage. Practical things. For that, they needn’t look human. So we got erector sets on steroids. For example, Vex, Radio Shack’s popular do-it-yourself line. For $150 dollars, you got wheels, motors and controllers. Not pretty, not personable, but practical.
Pet
The third generation for consumers was typified by Sony’s artificial dog Aibo. Sony stopped manufacturing Aibo in 2006, at which time two dozen animated pets picked up the collar. They are mostly dogs, but even the roboraptors will respond to a chin scratch. Manufacturer Robosapien calls it the fusion of technology and personality.Wow Wee International joined with a puppy that will sit, beg and, well, do the fire hydrant thing. Now that’s cute. Korean designer HiTec was the first with a robot ballet company. Each member of the troop was a Robonova, which costs $1,000. No tears at the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association. Their figures show that consumer robot sales are nearly doubling every year, from less than $2.5 billion in 2005, to $7 billion by the end of 2007, to $12 billion in 2008. A December 2007 study by ABI Research is not so sanguine. It predicts that the personal robot market will not reach $15 billion before 2015. Even so, that's an adoption rate right up there with DVDs and plasmas.
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