A Tomy employee displays micro robot pets called 'MicroPets-i,' which are shaped as dogs, cats, bears, and pandas. The mini robots are equipped with optical and touch sensors, enabling them to follow an object or move to avoid obstacles. The MicroPets-i can also communicate with one another through infrared communicators and sing in chorus. Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/NEWSCOM
A hamster from Zhu Zhu Pets by Cepia is show at the Time To Play Holiday 2009 Most Wanted List event in New York on Oct. 1. Following in the footsteps of past crazes for Tickle Me Elmo and Cabbage Patch Kids, Zhu Zhu pets were a hit on Black Friday, selling out in Walmart and Toys R Us online. Some retailers are now selling the robots for four, five, and even eight times their suggested retail price. Mark Lennihan/AP/FILE
A therapeutic robot, 'Paro,' reacts as a woman pats it during the international robot exhibition 2009 in Tokyo, Japan. The seal-like robot has a behavior generation system that creates behaviors like real animals. Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters
A robotic sheep munches on the lawn outside the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh, Pa. Tom A. Peter/The Christian Science Monitor/FILE
A woman feeds a leaf to a dinosaur shaped robot pet 'Pleo' at a Japanese launching event in Tokyo in December 2007. Pleo has 14 actuators and 38 sensors on its body which make it increase in size when the owner takes care of it. Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images/NEWSCOM/FILE
Tiger Electronics' interactive robotic toys are seen here, From left. named Meow-Chi, Poo-Chi and Chripy-Chi. The dog, Poo-Chi, was one of the top selling toys in the United States in 2000. NEWSCOM/FILE
Japan's toy maker Sega Toys unveils two prototype models of a cat robot named 'Necot.' Necot is equipped with 15 motors and 10 various sensors that react to human voices. Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/NEWSCOM/FILE
A visitor to the robot exhibition, Robodex 2000, gazes at the solar powered jellyfish pet robot Aquoroid produced by Japanese toy giant Takara, in Yokohama, Japan. Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/NEWSCOM/FILE
Sony's pet robots, AIBO, play soccer during the RoboCup Japan Open in Osaka, Japan. Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/NEWSCOM/FILE
Japan's pet robots AIBO are seen at an event in 2005 to commemorate the sixth anniversary of the robot in Tokyo. Toru Yamanaka/AFP/NEWSCOM/FILE
TOMY Company's Motomasa Kuge displays the Japanese toymaker's smallest class, infrared light controlled, biped walking robot, 'ROBO-Q,' at the International Tokyo Toy Show 2009. Toru Hanai/Reuters
A robot penguin named 'Pomi,' is the latest line in robotic pets by South Korean researchers. Developed by the state-run Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), Pomi can see, hear, touch, and emit smells, as well as making faces. Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute/AFP/NEWSCOM/FILE
Pet robots 'Genibo' dance along with music during the International Robot Exhibition 2009 in Tokyo, Japan, in November. The robot can recognize and show emotions when it sees its owner. Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters
Canines hang out with their computerized, robotic counterparts. Several companies make different versions the robotic dogs. NEWSCOM/FILE
Children pose with 'Probo,' the 'intelligent, huggable' robot at the unveiling of the first prototype in Brussels in April. Francois Lenoir/Reuters
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