Robots kick and splash at Korea’s Yeosu Expo

A presenter hauls a robot fish out of a tank at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering pavilion.

(Credit:
Tim Hornyak/CNET)

YEOSU, South Korea–I’m a sucker for world fairs. They sell dreams and I’m ready to buy.

In 2005, the Aichi Expo in Japan sucked me in like a giant Roomba and I became hooked on its fantasy of a greener, robot-filled future.

That dream hasn’t come true, but I still couldn’t keep away from this year’s small-scale expo here in Yeosu, South Korea, where robots are also reeling in the masses.

Some 190 miles south of Seoul, the coastal fair has seen enormous lines in the 100-degree heat. Still, visitor numbers are lower than expected and critics have called the show, which is themed on ocean biodiversity, boring and disappointing.

I was underwhelmed by most pavilions I managed to get into, but a robot exhibition put together by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, one of the world’s largest shipbuilders, was worthwhile.

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