Seoul: Almost 30 robots have started teaching English to youngsters in a South Korean city, education officials said on Tuesday, in a pilot project designed to nurture the nascent robot industry.
   Engkey, a white, eggshaped robot developed by the Korea Institute of Science & Technology (KIST), began taking classes on Monday at 21 elementary schools in the southeastern city of Daegu.
   The 29 robots, about 1m 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 KIST.
   Apart from reading books, the robots use pre-programmed software to sing songs and play alphabet games with the children. AFP