HRP-4C – robot girl steps forward

A robot has no right to appear on a page called 'People'. But a "cybernetic human" called HRP-4C, unveiled in Tokyo on Monday, is so much closer to reality than any previous robots that The First Post has broken its normally strict criteria.

HRP-4C is 5ft tall, weighs 95lb, and, with the help of 30 motors in her body and a further eight in her face, is able to smile, wink, wave her arms and walk - all at the same time.

She has been launched just in time for next week's Tokyo fashion shows where she is due to take a turn on the catwalk. She will then be available for sale at around £140,000.

Whether she can be useful, or even fun to have around the house, is debatable. Her developers at the state-backed National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, warned journalists that she is not ready to help with daily chores or work side by side with people, as robots have always been billed to do.

"Technologically, it hasn't reached that level," said Hirohisa Hirukawa, one of the developers, who added sadly: "Even as a fashion model, people in the industry told us she was short and had a rather ordinary figure."

Still, in robot-mad Japan, she represents a step forward. Don't be surprised to find her working as a receptionist - or on the phone at a newly nationalised bank's call centre.