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Chris Higgins
Mesmerizing: Keepon Dancing Robot
by Chris Higgins - August 16, 2007 - 3:36 PM

Keepon!Engadget turned up a fun story today about a little yellow robot who just can’t stop dancing. The robot is named Keepon (pronounced “Key-pong” though I prefer to think of him as “Keepon Dancing”) and is developed by Hideki Kozima (with dance-programming by Marek Michalowski). Looking a bit like two tennis balls plus eyes and a nose, Keepon is capable of dancing along to music. Because his two eyes are actually cameras (and his nose is a microphone), Keepon is able to interact with his environment, responding to stimuli. Here’s Keepon in a new music video for Spoon’s song “Don’t You Evah”:

For interested readers, there’s more about Keepon at Wikipedia, more about the Infanoid Project (including other interesting, though not so cute, robots), a New Scientist article on Keepon, and a video of Keepon rocking out to a different Spoon song. Keepon will be appearing in LA this September in a benefit concert with Spoon. Any LA area readers interested in stealing Keepon and delivering him to my apartment/dance laboratory — where he can be subjected to intensive dance research and repeated viewings of My Neighbor Totoro — will have my eternal gratitude.

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Comments (9)

  1. I want one!

    It reminds me of those plastic flowers from the 80’s that would kind of spin around in their pot if you played music. Only 100 times cooler.

    posted by Sara on 8-16-2007 at 4:08 pm

  2. *GASP!!!!* ZOMFG, I *SOOOO* want one! It’s like a giant peep but cuter!!!!! :D

    posted by Nicki on 8-16-2007 at 7:52 pm

  3. I totally want one, and I also have to admit that I kind of dance just like it. Creepy. :)

    posted by CentreChick on 8-16-2007 at 10:29 pm

  4. WANT!

    posted by donner on 8-17-2007 at 9:08 am

  5. While watching So You Think You Can Dance? this summer, I was given many opportunities to provide a negative answer to that question, but the fact that I don’t even dance as good as this little robot just makes me sad.

    posted by Cynthia on 8-18-2007 at 8:23 am

  6. NEEEEEEEEEEEED!

    posted by mri on 8-18-2007 at 8:43 am

  7. Looks like it is from the Peeps family.

    posted by Will on 8-19-2007 at 5:24 pm

  8. Too cute for words.
    What a fabulous time waster.
    MUST WIN AN AWARD from MENTAL FLOSS!
    I hope when this thing gets commercialized, that I can afford one.
    I wonder what my cat would say about this little guy?

    posted by Pierre M Laberge on 8-19-2007 at 5:33 pm

  9. I have already decided that Keepon is a better dancer than me. The cool thing is, now I can “Do the Keepon” and totally nerd out. I mean seriously, I can probably steal his moves….

    posted by Higgins on 8-19-2007 at 9:52 pm

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