Standing at a little over a foot tall and capable of recognising human emotions, personal robot Pepper is already proving a success in Japan. It hit the market this summer and within one minute, 1,000 units were ordered. And now, fans of the SoftBank robots have taken these humanoids to the next level by giving them a human touch with clothes an accessories that can be purchased online. Standing at a little over a foot tall and capable of recognising human emotions, personal robot Pepper is proving a success in Japan. Each piece of clothing and accessory is designed not to interfere with the robot's sensors, nor will they become tangled in hinges or joints.

Google may be leading the way in developing its own self-driving car, but more and more tech firms are joining the race to make autonomous vehicles mainstream. Now Samsung has said it is setting up a team to develop a car components business focusing on autonomous driving technology and entertainment systems. And fellow Asian firm, Baidu, has revealed ambitious plans to build autonomous shuttles that could replace older forms of public transport. Samsung has said it is setting up a team to develop a car components business focusing on autonomous driving technology and entertainment systems, which could see it going head-to-head with Apple. Samsung is used to going head-to-head with Apple when it comes to smartphones, and now the two companies look set to compete in developing self-driving technologies.

Six months after Microsoft announced plans to bring Cortana to iOS, the digital concierge has officially started beta testing on Apple's platform. The software company has selected 2,000 iPhone users to participate in the testing of Cortana, which combines features from Siri and Google Now into one package. Six months after Microsoft announced plans to bring Cortana to iOS, the digital concierge has officially started beta testing on Apple's platform. The software company has selected 2,000 iPhone users to participate in the testing of Cortana, which combines features from Siri and Google Now into one package. There are two ways to use Cortana: you can use voice commands, or you can type out your commands in the Start Menu.

If Hollywood ever had a lesson for scientists it is what happens if machines start to rebel against their human creators. Yet despite this, roboticists have started to teach their own creations to say no to human orders. They have programmed a pair of diminutive humanoid robots called Shafer and Dempster to disobey instructions from humans if it puts their own safety at risk. Robotics engineers are developing robots that can disobey instructions from humans if they believe it may cause them to become damaged. If asked to walk forward on a table top (pictured) the robot replies that it can't do this as it is'unsafe'.

An eerily life-like robot has been turning heads at the World Robot Exhibition in Beijing this week. Named Geminoid F, the robot has amassed a legion of fans, with some even describing her as'the world's sexiest robot'. The 5ft 6 inch android is capable of eye movements, response to eye-to-eye contact and can recognise body language. An eerily life-like robot has been turning heads at the World Robot Exhibition in Beijing this week. Named Android Geminoid F, the robot has a legion of fans, with some even describing her as'sexy' She is designed act like a human with rubber'skin' and a woman's face - but can't walk and has to be wheeled around.

For travellers in a hurry, navigating their way through the terminals at a busy airport can be a stressful experience. At one European airport, however, there will soon be help for those racing to reach their flight in time from a friendly robot called Spencer. Designed with a calm, 'unstirring' face, the robot will trundle around Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam to guide passengers from one gate to another. Spencer the robot (pictured) is due to be tested in Schiphol airport to help guide passengers to the correct gate. Spencer, which stands for'Social situation-aware perception and action for cognitive robots', will build up detailed maps of the airport to help it find its way while avoiding walls and other obstacles.

A computer that learns to talk in the same way as a young child by holding conversations with humans has been developed by scientists. The machine, which uses cutting edge artificial neural network technology to mimic the way the human brain works, was given 1,500 sentences from literature about language structure. It was then able to use this to learn how to construct new sentences with nouns, verbs, adjectives and pronouns when having a conversation with a real human. Researchers used connections between two million artificial neurons to mimic some of the processes that take place in the human brain as we learn to speak (illustrated). While some of the sentences had the rather functional approach of a computer rather than the finesse of a natural speaker, the results are still impressive.

Gliding silently through the aisles, it looks more like a moving parking metre than the latest in supermarket technology. But this robot - called Tally - promises to end customers' frustration of finding empty shelves when searching for a particular product. The robot is described as the world's first'autonomous shelf auditing system' and is designed to stalk the aisles looking for stock that is running low. Tally can scan shelves up to 8ft (2.4 metres) high (pictured) to look for gaps, misplaced products and items facing the wrong way, as well as checking prices and checking for out of date products. The machine is also designed to look for price discrepancies or identify stock that is nearing its sell-by-date and so needs to be discounted. Designed by California based start-up Simbe Robotics, the robot is able to capture data on up to 20,000 products in an hour.

Protracted negotiations within the United Nations are causing'killer robots' to move a step closer to reality, an expert has warned. The UK and US are currently attempting to water down a preemptive ban on autonomous weapons at the UN general assembly in New York. But this is delaying an agreement on banning the technology, which could allow nations to possess killer robots before any laws come into force. Protracted negotiations within the United Nations are causing'killer robots' to move a step closer to reality, an expert has warned. This was the stark warning made by Christof Heyns, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, in an in-depth article for The Guardian.

It's hard to think of mass extinctions as positive events, with species and genetic material lost forever. But computer scientists have shown that mass extinctions such as the one that killed off the dinosaurs could actually speed up evolution, leading to useful new adaptations – in robots at least. They say the finding has implications for the development of artificially intelligent robots and may support some evolutionary biologists' views that extinction events actually promote lineages that have the biggest potential to evolve. 'Focused destruction can lead to surprising outcomes,' said Risto Miikkulainen, a professor of computer science at the University of Texas at Austin. 'Sometimes you have to develop something that seems objectively worse in order to develop the tools you need to get better.'