Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AK-2laSYpII

This is Paro. Paro is a "Seal type mental commit robot for psychological enrichment" or STMCRFPE for short. It's supposedly "the world's most therapeutic robot" and is intended to have a calming effect on patients of hospitals and nursing homes.

From Wikipedia:

The robot has tactile sensors and responds to petting by moving its tail and opening and closing its eyes. It also responds to sounds and can learn a name. It can show emotions such as surprise, happiness and anger. It produces sounds similar to a real baby seal and (unlike a real baby seal) is active during the day and goes to sleep at night.

Paro isn't mass produced like its robotic cousins Necord or Nearme, so if you want one it's gonna probably set you back a few grand. A cheaper alternative are Sega's dream pets. While in Japan, Kate and I picked up a couple of Yume Inus (Dream Dogs) for about 1000 yen each. They are really cool! They can't walk, but they can produce a cute mechanical bark, stick their tongues out, as well as turn their ears and heads. They also have sensors in their eyes, feet and on their backs so that they can react to you. They were once pretty expensive, but soon after the Chihuahua fad ended the bottom fell out of the market for robot dogs. I think they have now been discontinued, however Sega Toys seems to still selling the Yume Neko. Grab one now before it's too late! Take it from me. There's no better way to calm your nerves after a hard day than playing with a furry robotic friend!