"...TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's growing elderly population from will be able to buy companionship in the form of a 45-centimeter (18-inch) robot, programmed to provide just enough small talk to keep them from going senile."
The beginning of the age of social machines. I think this is incredibly cool - but let's also not forget that the economics of such a market are absolutely staggering, because of massive, relatively wealthy aging populations suffering from an exponentially dropping quality of life (Via /.).