Korean baseball team recruits robots as stand-ins for fans
In South Korea, the Hanwha Eagles baseball team has gained a bunch of new fans that'll never abandon them even if they lose every game they play. After all, these new die-hard supporters are robots -- stomping, chanting, Mexican waving faceless robots designed to encourage human followers to cheer the Eagles on. They're officially called "fanbots," and they'll occupy three rows in the bleachers during a game, toting LED placards that display fans' (the flesh-and-blood ones) text messages for the team.Those screens that take the place of their faces? They also have a purpose: to display fans' faces as they watch the game remotely. It's definitely unusual, but the Eagles can use all the support they can get as they don't exactly have a good record. And who knows -- these fanbots could end up converting non-believers and getting more actual human supporters to show up at their games.
