There's something eerily familiar about Robosapien 1 that gives the collywobbles to those of use at gadgetshop HQ who are conversant in these matters. It's not just the seven independent servo motors in this ground-breaking bi-ped robot that give it lifelike movement. Nor the fact that it's fully tactile and responds to objects in its field of vision. It's that Robosapien is, undoubtedly, the shape of things to come.

When NASA Mars rover scientist Mark Tilden and his cohort spent over $1 million developing a fully independent, walking, talking robot, they perfected an early form of BEAM technology in the process. BEAM - or Biology, Electronics, Aesthetics, Mechanics - is a new branch of robotics that models biological behaviour and seeks to replicate it in hard-wired robots, setting aside conventional (and clumsy) computer control.

Tilden's remarkable breakthrough not only renders Robosapien more lifelike, it enables him to perform over 80 complex actions on demand. With an independent right and left, Robosapien is designed to follow six different commands on each side, enabling a huge number of possible movement permutations, from high-fives to kung-fu actions, all governed by a fearsome remote master controller. The future, in no uncertain terms, is in your hands....