inothernews:

Dozens of robots, called “Engkey,” are being used to teach English to elementary school students in Daegu, a city in South Korea.  From Australia’s Daily Telegraph:

The 29 robots, about one meter high with a TV display panel for a face, wheeled around the classroom while speaking to the students, reading books to them and dancing to music by moving their head and arms.

The robots, which display an avatar face of a Caucasian woman, are controlled remotely by teachers of English in the Philippines - who can see and hear the children via a remote control system.

Cameras detect the Filipino teachers’ facial expressions and instantly reflect them on the avatar’s face, said Sagong Seong-Dae, a senior scientist at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology.

“Well-educated, experienced Filipino teachers are far cheaper than their counterparts elsewhere, including South Korea,” he said.

Cool, but hopefully the robots aren’t teaching students to call other people “cheaper.”

(EDIT: A reader asks why they have to put a “Caucasian” face on the robots if the teachers are Filipinos who speak English.  Why not just use Filipino faces?  This is a good question.)

(Photo: AFP/Getty; article via the Daily Telegraph / Neatorama)