October 3, 2002	Thursday	Rajab 25, 1423

GENEVA, Oct 2: Technological improvements and falling prices could soon see robots doing many household chores, from cutting the grass to cleaning windows, according to a United Nations report on Thursday.

Not the mechanical manservants of science fiction, but computerised appliances such as vacuum cleaners and lawnmowers that can be programmed to work without a guiding hand.

According to the World 2002 Robotics Report, drawn up by the U.N. Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), automated vacuum cleaners hit the market last year, but with a relatively high price tag of 1,400 euros.

“Prices are going to come down just as they did for personal computers (PCs). When PCs started to be used by private people, they were pretty expensive,” said Jan Karlsson, an UNECE expert.

Robots are used in the car, chemical and metallurgical industries as well as activities ranging from medical services to bomb disposal.—Reuters