Sure, it's Weird Science meets Austin Powers, but when you talk abut Japan and robotics, it's serious stuff. Sanrio's Actroid DER2 is the successor to the first Actroid DER, one of the most lifelike female robots - okay, girl androids - ever produced. We featured the first DER, along with four other androids, in an end-of-August article, so you can head there to see her and compare her with this latest fembot.

Yeah, the DER2 is a big-step improvement from her predecessor. In fact, she's almost dateable. Sure, she's still a little jerky when she moves, and it doesn't look like she can dance, but hey, she's as close as it can get to lifelike expression. She might actually be a good prom date when you need one (with the right programming, of course).

So, the price of a convenient prom date who dotes on your every word? Sanrio leases the Actroid DER2 for 400,000 yen ($  3,500) for five days. Oh well. See her in action courtesy of these videos from Newlaunches.com.