Recently, Jess at Apropos of Something linked to an article on Cracked entitled “The Top Ten ’80s Robots (We Expected to Exist By Now)”. Great read, btw. Johnny Five was number ten on the list. Well, lo and behold, the guys at MIT are getting real close to Johnny.

Check out this latest research project. The robot’s name is Domo. Get it? Mister Roboto? Dang those nerds are funny. Domo can recognize human faces and voice commands, can identify objects, estimate their size and make intelligent decisions about how to manipulate them. Domo also has the ability to sense touch, necessary for safe interaction with humans. But most importantly, Domo has human-like eyes, just like Johnny Five.

Fortunately, Domo does not have a shoulder mounted laser cannon nor a homicidal tendency triggered by attempts to turn him off. (“NO DISASSEMBLE!!“) No report yet on whether or not he has a cute Indian side-kick with humorously bad English.