Projo Offbeat Blog

Robots are hot, maybe too hot for some people.

The owners of some Roomba robotic vacuums have developed an unusual bond with their hard-working, disc-shaped housemates, The Associated Press says in reporting on a Georgia Tech study.

Some people give their little robots nicknames, dress them up and fret about them when they signal for help, the study found. One owner, who has apparently spent too much time between dates with actual human beings, even introduced the robot to his parents.

I suspect Roombas aren't the only robots that have inspired special feelings among human beings. After all, there are robots that resemble pets, kids and stuffed animals. There's a robot that can spy for you, and there's an Elvis robot that can sing. See video.

But here are ten signs that you might be getting too close to your robot:

-- You include your robot in family pictures.

-- You mention your robot in the family Christmas newsletter.

-- You talk about your robot so much that other people avoid you at neighbhorhood parties and family gatherings.

-- You dress your robot better than you dress your kids.

-- You have a bumper stickers on your car bragging about your robot as if you were the parent of some overindulged elementary school student.

-- You do the rumba with your Roomba.

-- Your amicable divorce turns ugly when you try to decide who gets the robot.

-- You wonder, as your robot sits silently in the corner, what your robot is thinking.

-- Your mind wanders while you're at work, and you find yourself wondering what your robot is doing.

-- You wish that real people, if you can still make the distinction, could be more like your robot.

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