The latest version of ASIMO, the humanoid robot developed by Honda Motor Co., has taken a step closer to humanity.

Honda announced Wednesday that the new ASIMO can run, change direction to avoid obstacles and move smoothly in concert with people.

"For the time being, our development aim is to make ASIMO able to work with people in the office," such as picking up and delivering documents and mail, said Takanobu Ito, president of Honda R&D Co. "I hope ASIMO will be able to start working in Honda's office by 2010."

Thanks to Honda's new posture control technology, ASIMO can "run" at 3 kph, and its walking speed has been increased to 2.5 kph from the current model's 1.6 kph.

The automaker claims it is the world's first humanoid robot that can run with the same mechanism as a human being, in that both feet become airborne at the same time.

Using information obtained from visual sensors in its head and a floor sensor in its hip, ASIMO can detect obstacles and change its path until it reaches its destination, the company said.

ASIMO can read human movements through sensors in its head and wrist, and accept or give an object in accordance with human movements. It can also move forward and backward in response to the direction its hand is pulled or pushed.

The new ASIMO -- short for Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility -- is 130 cm tall and weighs 54 kg, 10 cm taller and 2 kg heavier than the current model.