HRP-2 is a humanoid robot designed by Japanese researchers that is programmed to reproduce dance steps with the practiced grace of an electronic geisha. The 5-foot-tall (1.5-meter-tall) robot is seen here at a press demo at the University of Tokyo's Institute of Industrial Science on January 12, 2005.

To teach HRP-2 its groove, the researchers devised a new approach that transforms motion-capture video of a human dancer into data for the robot's sequence of limb motions. A report on the work appears in the International Journal of Robotics Research.

"This study especially focuses on leg motions to achieve a novel attempt in which a biped-type robot imitates not only upper body motions but also leg motions including steps," the authors write.