The AP is reporting about a new robot developed by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology dubbed Promet.  Promet is a rudimentary, upright bipedal robot capable of handling small tasks similar to what can be done by seeing-eye dogs today.

"We are hoping to make them something comparable to service dogs," Isao Hara, senior researcher at the institute in Japan's technology hub of Tsukuba, just northeast of Tokyo, said of the pair of robots painted in silver and blue. "I think it's quite possible for them to interact with humans. We are now studying how robots can join the human society."

Japan's infatuation with robotics is a necessary one.  The country struggles with a growing elderly population and not enough younger workers interested in health service.  Similar trends in the farming industry eventually became the foundation for the Yamaha RMAX unmanned aerial vehicle -- currently the most prolific UAV in the world.