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Phoenix666 writes:

A light topic for a summer Friday:

Bookshelves that pop out just the book you need. Kitchen tables that set themselves. Bathrooms that adjust to your personal comfort levels.

The robots in this video from The Economist do absolutely none of those things. But they're pretty adorable nonetheless. Stanford University created a motorized foot stool that can be summoned by its human captors owners. It's either the best footstool or the worst R2-D2 ripoff, and as you can see in the video, some people treated it more like the latter than the former.

There's also a chest of drawers that opens up to provide the right tool, and is also designed to respond to being tickled. (NOT CREEPY AT ALL!) Also there's a couch that can move itself around the room, and a Rubbermaid garbage can that serves as the second worst R2-D2 imitator in the video. You'll still feel bad when it collides into another, non-robotic garbage can though. Just imagine trying to get comfortable with your feet oppressing that adorable ottoman.

There's video accompanying the article as well. What would your ideal robotic furniture be?

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