EngKey, Korean Children to be Taught by Robots

South Korea is testing English teaching Robots in their elementary school classrooms. EngKey, a 1 meter tall autonomous robot that can be used by foreign English teachers to teleport into the Korean classrooms, is being used in 21 Korean elementary schools at the moment. The 29 deployed robots follow a rigid script for now but are expected to become more flexible and autonomous in the future. The robot's appearance is designed not to intimidate shy children and look friendly. They cost around 8700 $ and are expected to cut the cost of migrating foreign teachers' travel expenses and accommodations. It is important to keep in mind that South Korea has the ambitious goal of having a teaching robot in every Kindergarten of the country. The video below (in Korean) shows the robot in action. Via SingularityHub.