in the late 1990’s cynthia brezeal pioneered (wrote the book on) ‘sociable robots,’ based on her work with kismet. in reality, robotics was (and remains) far behind special effects houses and toy designers, who for years have been making expressive, emotive puppets specifically for engendering social bonds with animate machines. so it’s no surprise that the most sociable robots today are toys, based in large part on the rubbery animatronics of pre-CG movie monsters. new silicone rubber and smaller electronics have made this year’s batch remarkably life-like, as – for the first time – autonomous cat-sized machines are capable of facial and gestural expression beneath a seamless skin. the use of tiny video cameras and processors that allow for facial recognition and tracking makes these robots slightly more responsive to their context and able to mirror their owner’s emotions. and as with most successful design, both pleo (above) and zeno (below) succeed because they have a unique, surreal aesthetic which invites us into their alternate world rather than trying to mimic our own.