SEOUL'S GONE BOT CRAZY

THEY dance, they box, they make cute pets, they meet, they greet, they fall, they get back up . . .

- COMPILED BY MELON RADEBE

Welcome to the wonderful world of robots – those things that used to exist only in sci-fi movies, books and comics before they slowly but surely jerked and twerked their way into everyday life.

And the Galaxy Robot Park is taking things to the next level now. This centre, which opened recently in Seoul, South Korea, bills itself as the first robot cultural theme park on the planet and is a groundbreaker in the world of “entertech” – a portmanteau of entertainment and technology.

The centrepiece of the 16 500 square-metre park is the Robot Arena, where K-pop concerts are staged. The difference, of course, is the performers in this arena don’t have agents, managers, an entourage or a list of quirky requirements – all they need are a couple of technicians to keep them in tiptop shape.

These humanoid robots, decked out in sequins and bright colours, perform choreographed dance routines, having learnt every move through motion-capture technology based on the performances of real dancers.

Visitors can see them move to G-Dragon’s songs Power and Home Sweet Home, as well as Taemin’s Advice and IDEA.

Taemin is a member of the popular K-pop group SHINee and is also signed under the Galaxy Corporation, the entertech giant that owns the robot park.

Galaxy plans to stage more than 1 000 performances a year, with shows being performed up to six times a day, says Choi Yong-ho, the co-founder and CEO.