New Toy?

CHARLI and DARwIN with Jon :)

Jon visited VMWorld 2012 (I presume in San Fran, since the Barcelona dates aren't until October), and took a snap with two of the most popular guys at the gig.

CHARLI (the big guy to Jon's right) is the United States’ first full-size autonomous humanoid robot.  

Jon's holding DARwIN -- the product of the Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory at Virginia Tech (RoMeLa). DARwIN can walk, albeit at a snail's pace, and stand up if it falls after some gyrations that resemble hip-hop moves.

Either way, I'm pretty sure Jon was just visiting, not buying. BUT, I'm sure his boys would have loved having these robots around :) I know I would -- but I'm a geek like that.

~ Hath