They say that everyone remembers their first grade teacher. Well, I'm guessing that'd be doubly true if your first grade teacher was a robot, which is an experience some kids in Tokyo are getting.

Saya the robot teacher is able to speak various languages, take roll call, assign basic tasks to students and express her current mood using facial expressions powered by 18 motors. It doesn't, I'm guessing, administer lessons or give individual attention to students. But hey, it performs basically all the tasks that a substitute teacher does, so I guess it's a cheaper alternative for cash-strapped schools. The wave of the future?

Telegraph, Via Ubergizmo