Got no one to dance with? Not to worry – you might soon be gliding through the moves, thanks to a robotic instructor designed to teach humans how to dance. The robot's designers had already created mechanical dance partners that follow a human's lead, but the new machine gently guides novices through routines while adapting to their skill level.

Got no one to dance with? Not to worry – you might soon be gliding through the moves, thanks to a robotic instructor designed to teach humans how to dance. The robot's designers had already created mechanical dance partners that follow a human's lead, but the new machine gently guides novices through routines while adapting to their skill level. This is trickier, says Diego Felipe Paez Granados at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan, who led the research, because the robot must keep students on course without becoming too forceful. The 1.8-metre-tall robot has wheels, but its upper body moves like that of a human dancer.