The robot Saya works as a receptionist at the Tokyo University of Science in Tokyo.

Human-looking robot smiles in Japan classroom

TOKYO —

Japan’s robot teacher calls roll, smiles and scolds, drawing laughter from students with her eerily lifelike face. But the developer says it’s not about to replace human instructors.

Unlike more mechanical-looking robots like Honda Motor Co’s Asimo, the robot teacher, called Saya, can express six basic emotions—surprise, fear, disgust, anger, happiness, sadness—because its rubber skin is being pulled from the back with motors and wiring around the eyes and the mouth.

In a demonstration, the robot’s mouth popped open, its eyes widened and eyebrows arched to appear surprised. Saya pulled back on its lips to make a smile, and said simple pre-programmed phrases such as “Thank you,” while its lips moved, to express pleasure.

“Robots that look human tend to be a big hit with young children and the elderly,” Hiroshi Kobayashi, Tokyo University of Science professor and Saya’s developer, said. “Children even start crying when they are scolded.”

First developed as a receptionist robot in 2004, Saya was tested in a real Tokyo classroom earlier this year with a handful of fifth and sixth graders, although it still can’t do much more than call roll and shout orders like “Be quiet.”

The children had great fun, Kobayashi recalled, tickled when it called out their names. Still, it’s just remote-controlled by a human watching the interaction through cameras, he said.

Japan and other nations are hopeful robotics will provide a solution for their growing labor shortage problem as populations age. But scientists express concern about using a machine to take care of children and the elderly.

Ronald C Arkin, professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, said more research in human-robot interaction is needed before overly relying on robots.

“Simply turning our grandparents over to teams of robots abrogates our society’s responsibility to each other, and encourages a loss of touch with reality for this already mentally and physically challenged population,” he said.

Noel Sharkey, robotics expert and professor at the University of Sheffield, believes robots can serve as an educational aid in inspiring interest in science, but they can’t replace humans.

“It would be delusional to think that such robots could replace a human teacher,” he said. “Leading scientists, engineers and mathematicians, almost without exception, talk about that one teacher who inspired them. A robot cannot be that kind of inspirational role model.”

Kobayashi says Saya is just meant to help people and warns against getting hopes up too high for its possibilities.

“The robot has no intelligence. It has no ability to learn. It has no identity,” he said. “It is just a tool.”

But would he create a robot in human form, say, a fantasy friend with movie-star looks?

“Sure,” he says, “If you’re willing to pay.”

That made-to-order robot will cost about 5 million yen, he said.

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Latest 15 of 35 Total Comments Show All

GG2141 at 02:32 PM JST - 7th April

The whole robot thing in Japan is a bit odd. I sometimes think that the Govt. has created some sort of secret plan to finance robot manufacturing as the next wave of industrial growth.

We laugh now, but will we still be laughing when Japanese robots rule the world???

http://www.theonion.com/content/video/intheknowarewegivingthe
dennis0bauer at 03:08 PM JST - 7th April

Crush on the teacher will have a whole new meaning, more declining birthrate?
cactusJack at 04:26 PM JST - 7th April

When her software freezes, does her face turn blue? And where is the "re-boot" button located?
dontpanic at 05:03 PM JST - 7th April

"I sometimes think that the Govt. has created some sort of secret plan to finance robot manufacturing as the next wave of industrial growth"

Thats not a secret, its an openly stated government objective and good for them. With the global economy on its knees and low cost economies ready to step in to make everyday products, its value added research like this that will help developed nations maintain a decent standard of living.

I dont see the need for a robot teacher, but there are plenty of mundane, heavy, or dangerous jobs robots can step into. Invest now while the research is still in its infancy.
gogogo at 06:47 PM JST - 7th April

Smile? Looks like it needs to go poop.
oberst at 07:30 PM JST - 7th April

" We laugh now, but will we still be laughing when Japanese robots rule the world??? "

ONLY if the robot industry support robot as sex toy.
likeitis at 07:52 PM JST - 7th April

gogogo: Smile? Looks like it needs to go poop.

An astute observation. Somebody forgot to tell the geeks who made her that the smile is in the eyes, not the mouth. No surprise the socially inept would not realize that.

My bet is the first robots will end up with features the pervs are all looking for

More power to them.
amakuri at 09:22 PM JST - 7th April

She looks like the female teller at my local bank or the woman behind the checkout at the supermarket....hmmm fushigi desu ne!
Freddy5 at 11:25 PM JST - 7th April

Shouldn't the headline read: "Robot-looking human smiles in Japan classroom"?
JOKERXJOKER at 01:51 PM JST - 9th April

why her face looks like the ghost that crawl out the t.v..from that famous horror film..lol i wonder what happen if someone punch her face..bets it will still say thank you.lol. by the way don't called a pre-programmed mannequin a robot. A robot is a machine that have A.I, and capable of analyzing, interpreting and give timely solutions to problems and actions based on changes on environments, interactions and timing variables. for more info pls search on advance A.I Tech improvements and applications. Asimo is not a robot also, its only piece of remote control junk that got hype from intense marketing.Just give Asimo a kick on the back during its duhhh..walking demo and u know what i meant.. i'm a researcher of advance A.I tech..walking and running in 2 feet is such a no go and inefficient...just a leak :we develop real robots that levitate/fly and capable of recharge itself only using sun light give it a jumble up rubic cube, it can solve for u less than 10 minutes (we still upgrading that)..wait for the news..the new dawn is coming...hahahaha
JOKERXJOKER at 01:52 PM JST - 9th April

..by the way the robots that we create ..doesn't a bit look like human ..its..err..just look like robots.
oberst at 10:19 PM JST - 10th April

That expression................ looks like she is constipated !!
oberst at 10:20 PM JST - 10th April

where is the "re-boot" button located? .................................................

rumor has it she has two re-boot buttons
UnagiDon at 10:43 PM JST - 10th April

"looks like a porn star burn victim..."
rogerbentham at 03:30 PM JST - 13th April

this is scary. japan has a population problem, and this is the solution, robots. probably could rip a kid's right out of it's socket if he didn't behave.