Struggling Korean Baseball Team Fills Seats with Robot Fans

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Your favorite sports team’s cheering section has probably been called some choice words in the past. Has “robots” ever been one of them?

The Hanwa Eagles, a Korean baseball club, has installed a cheering section comprised of robot supporters. Marketed as a way for fans to back their team even if they can’t make it to the stadium, each robot acts as a surrogate that relays messages from folks sitting at home.

What’s the Big Idea?

The Hanwha Eagles Fanbots, in an effort to be just that much more creepy, feature screens over their faces so fans at home can upload their photos. The robot rooting section participates in stadium-wide group cheers and can even do the wave, albeit a molasses slow wave as each robot is about as lithe as a geriatric.

The Eagles are perennial cellar dwellers in the Korean Baseball Organization standings — at the time of this writing they were 9th out of 9, sporting a dismal .375 winning percentage. Despite the team’s struggles on the field, the Eagles’ brass hopes their robot fans will help electrify the game-day atmosphere.

Keep reading at BBC News

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