Robots able to walk the walk, but now can they talk the talk?

Tong Tong may only be a baby, but no one can beat him at mind twisters or number games, in Chinese or English.

But then Tong Tong is no ordinary baby: 'He' was built by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2005, becoming the country's first humanoid robot.

Tong Tong has high-end artificial intelligence and vivid human-like facial expressions and appearance. He is fun too, as he is programmed to play 10 games through voice command.

The little bundle of technological joy is just one of many objects on show at the ongoing China Robot Expo in Beijing.

According to organizers, the country's potential market for robotic application is tipped to reach 9.3 billion yuan (US$1.1 billion) in 2010, meaning companies and institutes from home and abroad are rushing to snap up business opportunities.

"I believe this expo provides a good platform for us to know more about the latest market trends and seek partnerships with companies in the field, " said Joseph Fernando, architect and programme manager of the robotics department of Microsoft Corporation.

Zou Renchou, dean of Xi'an-based Superman Technology Company, brought the most human-like robot to the expo.

With the robot's body and face covered with a skin-like material, the life-size robot looks like the identical twin of its creator.

"After improvement, my robot twin brother can hopefully become better at language recognition and response, and conduct my lectures for me," joked Zou.

Experts at the expo said it would still be several years before robots are ready to be part of everyday lives.

"Two core aspects in a perfect humanoid robot are stability and interactive capacity," said Song Kai-tai, professor in Electrical and Control Engineering at Taiwan's National Chiao Tung University.

"But the present developers place too much emphasis on stability, which limits the robot's functions and applications," said Song, who was visiting the expo.

Source: China Daily