o9Media

I suppose you can’t call something that debuted in April of last year news, but I just discovered the little, yellow, limbless, dancing marshmallow, Keepon, a couple nights ago. Programmed by Marek Michalowski of Carnegie Mellon University and developed by Hideki Kozima, Keepon was originally created for research on social development and communication in, to a large extent, autistic children. He has two cameras in his eyes, and a mic in his mouth to ensure Keepon’s lifelike attention. “Human social behavior shares much in common with dance. Our speech, as well as the movement of our body, head, and hands, is periodic and rhythmic,” says the official website of Keepon. This rhythmic robot is also capable of eye-contact and emotion. Plus, he’s damn entertaining to watch.

You can see Keepon in action at beatbots.org