Industrialists and academics have created a sensation in mid-February by hosting a full-scale demonstration of their prototype robots in the streets of Fukuoka in Japan.

The event, which the novelty seems to have generated some excitement, was to demonstrate that robots – including humanoids – could one day fit naturally in an urban environment. Several demonstrations have been conducted, including a robot capable of assisting a person to cross a street or take a bag of groceries on a display. The city of Fukuoka will emerge as a preferred location for testing of future achievements robot designed to interact with humans.