Katsushi Ikeuchi, a professor of engineering at Tokyo University has given the 1.5-meter-tall (five-foot) robot HRP-2 Promet , which is usually used at construction sites to help workers, a new lease on life, teaching it 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. The robot to replicate human movements.

Priced at 38 million yen (365,000 dollars).

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