PR2 is a Willow Garage robot that performs a valuable, and difficult, task for humans - folding the laundry. Professor Pieter Abbeel at UC Berkeley has PR2 started out on towels, which are somewhat easier than other items, but still it's a great start.
(PR2 folding laundry robot)
Science fiction fans may recall that this functionality was built into closets by Philip K. Dick in his 1965 novel The Zap Gun; see the entry for the handicloset.
Wearable Artificial Fabric Muscles
'It is remarkable that the long leverages of their machines are in most cases actuated by a sort of sham musculature...' HG Wells, 1898.
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Wearable Artificial Fabric Muscles
'It is remarkable that the long leverages of their machines are in most cases actuated by a sort of sham musculature...'