Somewhat comically, a walking, talking robot manages to twist its hip and extend its arms, as it imitates human dancing.

A handful of infrared sensors and five joints were designed into each of the robot's arms, making it China's first robot dancer.

The child-sized robot, nicknamed Feifei, which is a take on the Chinese word for "flying", is able to execute three programmed dances.

When perceiving encouragement from a person, such as applause, though cameras built in its eyes, Feifei salutes or returns applause.

"It's much more difficult to have it dance than walk or talk," Li Chengrong, a leading robot scientist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Institute of Automation, said.

The robot has many advantages over its predecessor, Pangpang, especially in voice and movement control as well as interaction technologies, Li said.

Feifei's bubble head has a total of 12 joints, which makes it easier to mimic more than 40 human facial expressions, representing happiness, anger, sadness, fear, surprise and others.

Feifei is even able to turn cockeyed and wry-mouthed, which are uncommon human "expressions" for a robot.

"We've tried to make its facial expressions and body movement more coordinated, or in another word, make it more 'human'," Li said.

When it shows joyous movement, Feifei changes its expressions more rapidly. And when it is supposed to be in sadness, it moves slower.

Like many other robots, Feifei can say "ni hao", or hello, in both Chinese and English. It can also answer simple questions in standard mandarin Chinese.

It is not for sale any time soon, Li said, "But it's not merely for sale."

Robots that look less human serve in manufacturing while those with pretty appearances can be used for entertainment.

"We'd like to upgrade our robots to the level of people's home companions just like the Japanese Asimo and Aibo," Li said.

Japan is the world leader in robotics. Honda has sleek-looking robot Asimo and Sony sells its Aibo dogs at high prices.

The CAS institute is developing more technologies for entertainment use.

Last month, the institute warranted biometrics verification and interactive technologies for games to Shanda Networking, a NASDAQ-listed online game provider, at a licensing fee worth two million yuan (US$240,000).

"We should be more market-oriented," Li said.

(Xinhua News Agency May 27, 2005)