August 23, 2005—It's quite possibly the curviest spy since Beyoncé bounced her way through the last Austin Powers extravaganza. Billed as a robot house sitter, Roborior went on sale Thursday in (where else?) Japan.

Shown here at a Tokyo department store, the basketball-size sentry comes with gadgets even the International Man of Mystery might admire: infrared sensors, a videophone, smoke detector, and a digital camera. When an intruder crosses the electric watchdog's path, it beams a scene of the crime to the owner's video-ready mobile phone.

The three-wheeled robot looks as if it comes from the future, and at U.S. $2,600, so does its price. Then again, it eats a lot less than a Rottweilier does. Speaking of guard dogs, the Sanyo and Tmsuk companies, which developed Roborior, will also sell you Banryu, a four-legged security 'bot that barks.

Roborior may be just the latest fling in Japan's long-running love affair with robots. Also spotted in the island nation: doglike droids used for "robot therapy" at nursing homes, cat 'bots complete with synthetic fur, and a "woman" that may be too humanoid for its own good (see photo).

—Ted Chamberlain

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