There's plenty of talk that robots can act as replacements for warehouse employees. But items have to be grabbed elsewhere, and Preferred Networks Inc. has an idea for a place covered with clothing and general filth: the home. With an investment from Toyota and Hitatchi, the Japanese company was able to offer a demonstration robot that "picked up pens and put them in a holder all in the same direction," according to the Wall Street Journal. The same robot, which Preferred Networks refers to as a Human Service Robot (HSR), was also able to respond to voice commands instructing it to put a towel in the trash instead of the laundry. With built-in cameras at the top of its body, an HSR learns as it goes around the house.