We may have less than 30 years before robots become as intelligent as humans, and Honda's taking another big step in the right direction today by unleashing its latest ASIMO on Europe. Do robots like Zungenwurst?
The new ASIMO, first shown off earlier this year, is smarter, has better dexterity - it can open a bottle and pour a drink - and can run faster, run backwards, and hop and jump.
It's as close to a human that Honda has achieved since the bot's debut 14 years ago. The new ASIMO can even express sign language and, perhaps most impressively, can recognise the faces and voices of multiple people speaking simultaneously.
And if you're worried that your future robot butler will be getting in the way around the house, don't be - ASIMO can predict the direction a person will walk and will quickly take a different path to prevent collision.
On tour
But you'd better start praying that ASIMO doesn't become too smart. The bot can now run 5.6mph and even hop on one leg continuously. And stairs? No obstacle. But seriously, ASIMO running towards you at 5.6mph is terrifying. We've seen it.
But hold onto your wallets for now - Honda isn't going to be selling its new ASIMO just yet. Still, we live in hope that it won't be too long before we can have Geoffrey the robot butler making drinks around the house.
We'll be in Brussels this week to see ASIMO ourselves and answer the only question that could possibly be on your lips right now: can we high-five with it?
How far we've come…
