Ok, to begin with, this may be the freakiest thing I’ve ever seen. Though it seems that the ATR (Osaka based Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute) has developed a “crowd-monitoring” humanoid robot. In ways it recognizes when people are lost and directs them where to go.

So in a series of demonstrations/tests that were conducted, a souped-up version of ATR’s humanoid robot was able to monitor passer byers within a 100 square meter (1,076 sq ft) section of Universal Citywalk Osaka.

It receives feeds from 16 cameras, 6 laser range finders and 9 RFID tag readers installed around this area. The humanoid was able to watch up to 20-30 people at a time, even pinpoint their location within a few centimeters. The humanoid is able to classify people’s behaviors into one of 10 categories including waiting, wandering, walking fast, running, etc.)

ATR announced that this is the first of many tests they plan to conduct at Universal Citywalk Osaka. In June the company plans to start hiring out its humanoids to large companies that have similar interests with the idea of employing robots.