Dancing robot shows its metal

You have seen Peter Crouch do the robot, now watch a robot do the Peter Crouch.

Japanese scientists have unveiled a robot capable of strutting its stuff on the dancefloor and putting the Liverpool and England striker's goal celebration to shame.

Boffins from the University of Tokyo used software that enables the HRP-2 robot to copy the moves of a human dance teacher through video motion capture technology.

Dr Nakaoka said: "The result that the robot stably imitated human dance motions including dynamic-style step while keeping the original motion rhythm is a novel achievement for biped humanoid robots."

The researchers suggest that robots programmed with their software could be used to preserve knowledge of traditional Japanese folk dances as those with the skills to perform them gradually die off.

But Prince, Beyonce and Justin Timberlake need not lose any sleep at the moment. The Aizu-Bandaisan is primarily a dance involving upper body moves and the feet aren't quite on the same level yet. Some might say the same about Crouch...

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