Even the roughest of characters among us would have to admit that babies can be cute. Not necessarily at first, but once they start smiling and giggling and stop crying and pooping all the time, they can be a symbol of pure beauty in this world.

But what about before they're born? We've already seen 3D ultrasounds that can be copied to your iPods to watch your unborn child writhing around inside the uterus, and the general consensus in the comments was that there wasn't anything too cute about that. Of course, it's not just about appearances - the technology also offers medical benefits, like the ability to spot defects and illnesses earlier in the pregnancy.

Now Philips is showing off its concept for what ultrasounds will look like in the future. Aside from having the child look like it's in a pod that you can reach out and touch, the biggest change to the process for Philips is creating a more welcoming atmosphere than the stench of death that tends to waft around hospitals (or is that just disinfectant?).

I'm not a parent yet, so I'm not really one to comment, but I don't like going to a hospital for any reason. What do you guys think? Would you prefer to be able to walk up to a weird-looking pod with a 3D ultrasound of your unborn child in a relatively welcoming environment?