The perfect kid: Part computer, part robot

Here's one kid who lives up to the dictum that children must be seen and not heard. Meet Wizkid. Part computer, part robot, this Swiss machine is as endearing as any child, but unlike most kids, it doesn't walk or talk, and it pays perfect attention.

More important, it will also hopefully change the way people interact with machines.

Wizkid will be on display at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) here and will be part of its Design and the Elastic Mind exhibit, which opens Feb 24.

Wizkid is the result of a collaboration between former Sony robotics engineer Fréderic Kaplan and industrial designer Martino d'Esposito, both based in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Wizkid isn't static and has a screen on a mobile neck, which is trained to hone in on human faces. Once it sees you, it focuses on you and follows your movements and blends into human space.

There is no mouse or keyboard. On Wizkid's screen you see yourself surrounded by a "halo" of interactive elements that you can simply select by waving your hands.

If you move away or to one side, Wizkid adapts itself to you, not the other way around. If you're with a friend, Wizkid finds and tracks both of you and tries to figure out your relationship, expressing surprise, confusion or enjoyment when it gets your response.

Wizkid's inventors see their creation as playing a new and important role in the transitional world we inhabit.

"Wizkid gets us AFK - away from keyboard - and back into the physical world, " explains Kaplan. "Unlike a personal computer, it doesn't force the human to accommodate, and it's fundamentally social and multi-user."

Kaplan isn't suggesting that Wizkid will replace the language-driven interfaces of ordinary computers. But he does believe that there are many areas in which Wizkid's augmented reality could ease and enhance the human experience.

For instance, if you hold up your favourite CD cover, Wizkid will start the stereo. In the office, Wizkid adds a new dimension to conferences, paying attention to who is speaking - and who is not.

Unlike a real kid, whose learning curve can be frustratingly hard to influence, Wizkid learns as much as you want it to about you and your world, and interacts with you at a level that you define.