Do you remember your kindergarten teacher?  Chances are you would if she were a robot, which is an experience some kids in Japan are getting. From comic books to sci-fi movies, humans have been pondering the usage of technology to use for everyday tasks.

Now, the time has come for the world to make these thoughts into reality, with the tangible human-like robots. In the future, it seems more and more of people will learn from social robots, especially kids learning pre-school skills and students of all ages studying a new language.

For the last 15 years, scientists in Tokyo have done experiments for the onerous idea and now, their effort has produced a functioning robot teacher, the Saya.

Initially developed for companies who want to cut labor costs by replacing teachers and office workers, the Saya had evolved into a mechanical educator with a range of human expressions

Saya resembles a human face by expressing six basic emotions; surprise, fear, disgust, anger, happiness, and sadness. This is enabled by its rubber skin’s capabilities of being stretched from the back with 18 motors and wiring around the eyes and the mouth.

The Saya is a product of Japan’s determination to put a robot in every home by 2015. Nonetheless, humans controlling the robot through a camera limit its capabilities. This results in the robot teacher’s notable tts disability to interact with students with regards to their human sentiments which, in light of the effect teachers have on their students, has sparked controversy about whether robots, like Saya, would be compatible with a classroom environment and able to provide human-like qualities such as encouragement and reproach.

Students and teachers here at AHS have mixed feelings about this new technology. “The idea of having one person operate a few robot teachers from a totally different place is really exciting and it might be cool to try it out around [Annandale],” said junior Rebecca Hoehn.

However, fellow junior Zeni Saife-Selassde disagrees. “I think it would not be a good idea because I can recall many teachers who have impacted my life,” said Saife-Selassde. “Without them, I wouldn’t be the person I am today.”

Theater director George Bennett is also skeptical about the value of the Saya. “I think that although the robot has potential to possibly be a teacher’s assistant, it can’t sense the needs of the individual students,” said Bennet.

Another issue that has arisen is how Saya disciplines students. Athough the robot is programmed to admonish unabashed children and say commands such as “be quiet,” it is not as effective or as eloquent as a human teacher.This could lead to behavior problems, especially in high school settings.

“I would mainly like [a robot teacher] because I would be able to get away with things,” said junior Gabby Hankinson, “and I wouldn’t feel bad for talking back since it’s not a real person.”

However, the chances of the Saya making its US debut any time in the near future is slim. On average, humanlike robots like Saya are expected to cost about 5 million yen or $51,000 to make. Because of the budget among other controversies, Americans schools are unlikely to be able to afford to test it within the next five years.