A vacuum cleaner that talks as it cleans

A Japanese company has come up with a robot vacuum cleaner that can talk to people as it cleans. The gadget can be controlled with an iPhone and it also sends back photos of the home while it does its job.

The Cocorobo - created by Sharp - speaks three languages, English, Japanese and Chinese. It comes with more than 30 phrases, including "Long time no see" and "Hello", the Daily Mail reported.

The cleaner comes with an iPhone app to allow people to directly interact with it. Users can control its movements, live-stream videos from the carpet, and it even sends pictures as it automatically works around the home.

The robot also speaks the Kansai dialect of southwestern Japan.

People can ask questions like "How's it going?", and get back answers like "I'm cool and feeling good".

The cleaner comes with infra-red sensors to ensure it does not bump into things around the house. When tired, it can walk itself into a little docking station and "sleep", and wait for the owner to wake it up with a friendly greeting.