Robot to keep the ancient dance_文教Education

　he looks like an animation character wearing a visor, shuffled its gray metal feet and waved its hands in the air in sync with a woman in a kimono. japanese researchers said they had turned

　　japanese researchers said they had turned a humanoid industrial machine into a master of japanese traditional dance in a bid to use a robot as a guardian of cultural heritage.

　　the 1.5-meter-tall (five-foot) robot hrp-2 promet, which looks like an animation character wearing a visor, shuffled its gray metal feet and waved its hands in the air in sync with a woman in a kimono.

　　katsushi ikeuchi, a professor of engineering at tokyo university, said the robot, which is usually used at construction sites, was taught traditional japanese dance to preserve the art for the future.

　　the slow-paced dance, which is performed in-groups and accompanied by lutes and other japanese instruments, is rapidly losing ground in 21st-century japan, with many young people only encountering it at local festivals.

　　hrp-2 promet was created in 2003. priced at 38 million yen (365,000 dollars), it can help workers at construction sites and can also drive a car.