Humanised Robot

I came across the link below, on early morning trawls through the social networking sites (as is my usual task, in order to update myself on just a smidgen of what the world is getting up to).
In all honesty, it creeped me out. And I know that the technology has advanced somewhat (which contributes to other industries) but there's a boundary in my mind, that you shouldn't cross. I guess my fear is the ultimate "Robots taking over the World" scenario (yes, The Matrix has influenced my thinking on that!). And to me, this is not a positive step in progression, it feels like we are tempting fate.
What I want to know is, what are the applications of this in real-life? The only thing I can think of, is those who maybe have problems recognising social cues (those with Asperger's syndrome) and using using the robot as a means of teaching them to do so. Otherwise I am thinking, is this just a toy? Another shiny, new, toy to come out of Japan?

http://webnerhouse.com/2010/10/12/japanese-robot-creepiness/