Japanese Scientists Build a Dance Teacher Robot
Posted on June 21, 2017
This robot can slow dance so well it can teach humans. Scientists at Tohoku University have built a dance instructor robot. The robot does help people learn how to dance. It can also assess your dancing capabilities. The robot was not actually created to replace human dance teachers. The goal of the robot dancer was to learn more about human-robot interactions.
The slow dancing robot treats human dancers differently depending on their experience level. If it senses you are advanced it will let you lead. If it senses that you are not very good at dancing then it won't give you as much freedom to move.
The robot developers from the university's System Robotics Laboratory say, "This project presents a physical Human-Robot Interaction under the lead of a robot, performing the role of teaching within a dance training framework. For doing so, a close contact cooperation was designed to be intrinsically safe through a force-based controller that responds, and adapts accordingly to the partner’s abilities in the task. Herewith, balancing guidance in the training, and a comfortable interaction force for the human partner."
Someone who is very shy and terrible at dancing might prefer working with a robotic dancer first. Hopefully, no humans will fall in love with their instructor. Take a look: