Yesterday, we learned that we might be marrying robots by the year 2035. And according to this article in WIRED, it appears we're well on our way.
First we meet Stair 1.0. Six-feet tall and handsome, he's the clumsy first-boyfriend robot who can "manipulate something in its environment" just not very well. He can't always follow through with tasks and sometimes breaks shit. Stair 2.0 will be able to "fail gracefully" and learn from its mistakes. Stair, however, is just a robotic hand on wheels--safe enough for now. On the creepier side of this is RobotCub:
The size and shape of a 3-year-old, RobotCub has two five-fingered hands, each of which will be covered with sensitive artificial skin made of the same stuff as the iPod's electrostatic touchwheel. It has expressive eyes, a white plastic shell that makes it look like Casper the Friendly Ghost, and a tether that runs from its back like an electronic umbilical cord into an adjacent room, where it connects to a few dozen PCs.
So, if RobotCub is redeveloped each year, and gets more skin and a few more parts, he'll be 31 and prime marriage material by 2035.