Conference promotes robots for elderly care

BEIJING - Dressed in colorful costumes, they performed a song from a classic Chinese opera, entertaining the crowd with their sweet voices and exaggerated gestures.

However, these were not, as you might expect, children or actors, but voice-controlled humanoid robots called iPals. Designed to serve the elderly, iPal charmed the crowds at the recent 2018 World Robot Conference in Beijing.

"It moves in such a cute way, and it sings opera," said Fang Fang, a visitor to the conference. "I'd like to buy one for my parents."