The project, designed to foster the emerging robot industry, has seen the creation of Engkey, an egg-shaped white robot that stands just over a yard high and has a TV display screen for a face. Twenty-nine of the 'new teachers' have currently been produced and have begun teaching English classes at over twenty elementary schools in the city of Daegu.
The robots are able to read books to the children, as well as being programmed to sing songs and play educational games.
Although displaying a female Caucasian avatar face on the display screen, the robots are remote-controlled by English teachers in the Philippines, who are able to both see and hear their students through the system, that also uses cameras to detect the facial expressions of the teachers and immediately relay them to the avatar's face.
Senior Scientist at KIST, Sagong Seong-Dae said, "Well educated, experienced Filipino teachers are far cheaper than their counterparts elsewhere, including South Korea".
Daegu City Education Office representative, Kim Mi-Young said that the kids loved the robots as they were cute and interesting, and also said that some may be sent to remote country areas previously shunned by foreign English teachers, but stressed that the project was not about replacing human teachers with robots.
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