A group of engineers, designers and programmers at Hanson Robotics in Texas have created a 17-inch tall, 6-pound robot boy bearing the same name as the company’s founder’s 18-month-old son, Zeno.

Unlike Zeno the human boy, Zeno the robot can’t speak or walk yet, but its blinking eyes can track people moving about and it has a face that captivates with a variety of expressions.

Hanson Robotics’ founder, David Hanson, and his colleagues believe there’s an emerging business in the design and sale of lifelike robotic companions, or “social” robots. They will show robot Zeno to third- through 12th-grade students Thursday in Los Angeles at the Wired NextFest technology conference.

Hanson says he envisions Zeno not as a clearly artificial robotic toy, but as an interactive learning companion, a synthetic pal who can engage in conversation and convey human emotion through a face made of a skin-like, patented material Hanson calls frubber.

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