Robot 'with sense of self' shows off cheeky side

A future dominated by robots could be upon us sooner than imagined with a university team releasing a video showing a robot "with a sense of self" playing a game and interacting with people.

The humanoid robot is a joint project between Barcelona's Pompeu Fabra University and the Robot Cognition Laboratory in France, with footage of the robot playing the classic arcade game Pong picked up by magazine New Scientist.

"This robot is motivated by goals and it can express emotions on its face and through speech," the research team said in the video, which was uploaded yesterday.

"Its goals and emotional state change constantly based on information picked up by sensors and its situation, like winning or losing."

And the robot isn't afraid to show its cheeky side.

"I like it when you touch me this way," it says in the video. "Please caress me again."

The long-awaited sequel to sci-fi masterpiece Blade Runner has recently been given the go-ahead so if the robot begins to become curious about its own existence, it could well make a cameo.