Now that the Digital Age is firmly upon us, where are all the robots we envisioned twenty years ago? Will the likes of R2D2 merely live in the annals of sci-fi lore? Not if Cye, the household robot from Probotics, Inc., can help it.

Looking more like a handleless vacuum cleaner, the 16 by 10 by 5 inch Cye is operated wirelessly by a PC and is programmable to handle a variety of tasks, from serving drinks to vacuuming the carpet. The PC, using the Windows-based Map-N-Zap software, communicates with the cog-wheeled droid via a small antenna that connects to the serial port.