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Researchers created a humanoid robot that can understand Farsi

Surena III humanoid robot University Tehran
Surena III can balance on one leg. YouTube/ IEEE Spectrum

Researchers from the University of Tehran demonstrated their humanoid robot last week that's capable of understanding select phrases in Farsi and mimicking human movements.

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The robot, named Surena III, took four years to build. It's human-like form allows it to grasp objects, stand on one foot, walk on uneven surfaces, and even kick a ball.

Surena III can also track a person's motions, detect objects, and recognize faces, according to IEEE Spectrum.

"One of the best applications for this robot may be employing it in disasters," Aghil Yousefi-Koma, who leads the Surena project, told IEEE Spectrum.

The robot is an upgraded version of the researchers' previous work. It has an updated software system that "enables the robot to simultaneously communicate with the environment, manage its behaviors, monitor its sensors, and detect unwanted faults in the system," Yousefi-Koma told IEEE Spectrum.

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Surena III can understand select phrases of Farsi, the International Business Times reported, but is incapable of speaking.

The group will continue to work on Surena III so that the robot becomes autonomous and has improved interactions with humans.

Surena III's capabilities are impressive, but it still moves more awkwardly than other humanoid robots on the market.

Pepper the humanoid robot can detect when you're sad and do things like dance or make jokes to cheer you up. And Asimo the robot can run, communicate in sign language or verbally, and dance. 

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Surena III has some ways to go before it can mimic those kinds of skills. Watch the robot in action:

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