Kanae's avatar turned to the classmate and clapped. Kanae said it was her third time taking a class through Ori Hime. "It's fun to turn the robot in directions I want to look in," she said.

Called "avatars" by the Kyoto Prefecture-based ATR team, the robots will be used during the expo in the "Future of Life" pavilion. Osaka University professor Hiroshi Ishiguro, who is one of Japan ...