Here's a festive idea for a robotics company -- a giftwrapping robot, able to take a standard, not particularly fragile rectangular box and perfectly giftwrap it.

This might be a viable product for online stores that offer giftwrapping options, but I think one decent market would be malls at Christmastime. Aside from making money charging for wrapping, it would be an attraction (expecially in Japan where they love gifts) that brought in shoppers. I suppose some might worry it could deprive the charities that sometimes do giftwrapping in malls of a fundraising opportunity.

The robot would presumably grab the gift by its sides, and spin it or the paper roll to place a perfectly cut ring of paper around it with adhesive dabbed in the right places by a robot arm. The trickier part would be arms to fold the end folds.

Do you sense the fact that I just spent a lot of time wrapping? Due to the fear of customs and the TSA, I wrap my presents after I arrive in Toronto. The TSA did indeed open my box of gifts and one gift inside, providing the gift of TSA inspection tape for my nephew.