Tech Wonders at The Shanghai World Expo 2010

Hai Bao is the mascot of the World Expo, and you can find him everywhere at the Expo, including in robot form, as shown here.

Haibao means "treasure of the sea" and is a lucky name in Chinese tradition.

Photo Credit: Dan Nystedt, IDG News Service

The Expo, which runs through October 31 of this year, is the most expensive fair of its kind in the history of expositions. its theme is "Better City, Better Life."

The Expo grounds cover about two square miles along both sides of the Huangpua River, as shown here. (The site is about twice the size of Monaco and is the largest site ever for a world's fair.) About 17 million visitors have been through the Expo as of the date of this slideshow.

Expo Map: Courtesy of Motorola

Low-impact LED lighting technology is used for many light sculpture displays at the Expo, including this one shown reflected in a pool at the giant Expo Axis complex.

Photo Credit: Dan Nystedt, IDG News Service

Flying lanterns are a folk custom in Taiwan, where they are launched during the Lunar New Year holidays to pray for good fortune, happiness and peace.

Here at the Taiwan Pavilion, visitors view a short film on Taiwan in the Sphere theater, which provides a 720-degree viewing experience. Visitors then can "light" digital lanterns after choosing prayers on touchscreens. The "lanterns" go up the sides of the Sphere; images of the words on the moving lanterns also may be projected onto glass curtain walls in the pavilion.

Photo Credit: Dan Nystedt, IDG News Service

At the Japan Industry Pavilion, DreamROBO robots scale a 50-foot "wall" made of plastic tubing.

Photo Credit: Voice of America

Solar panels power the bug zappers that help to keep mosquitoes away from Expo visitors.

Photo Credit: Dan Nystedt, IDG News Service

The Expo is averaging more than 400,000 people a day, which keeps the lines (and the waits) to enter the pavilions long. The Vietnam Pavilion looks busy in this photo only because it's beside the most popular pavilion, Japan's.

Photo Credit: Dan Nystedt, IDG News Service

Concept cars are popular at the Expo. This one is the YeZ from General Motors' joint-venture partner in China, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC). It is designed to use carbon dioxide for fuel and to emit oxygen.

Photo Credit: Dan Nystedt, IDG News Service

The emphasis at this Expo is on green technology, and the electric shuttle vehicles that assist visitors are part of that plan. A ride costs $1.46.

Photo Credit: Dan Nystedt, IDG News Service

Hai Bao, shown here in a statue at the Expo, has been accused of looking like the American cartoon figure Gumby. Expo organizers say they did not know who Gumby was when they picked the Hai Bao design.

Photo Credit: Dan Nystedt, IDG News Service

Some of the most interesting technology at the Expo is that used to design the pavilions.

Here is the pavilion from the Chinese province of Heilongjiang, which is built from crystal resin to resemble an ice sculpture. The motto of this pavilion is "Ice and Snow Make Us Different." The province is in the extreme northeast section of China and is famous for its subarctic winter climate.

Photo Credit: Expo 2010

The Israel Pavilion is composed of two buildings and is said to look like clasped hands or a "seashell."

One side of the "seashell" is made of stone, while the other is made from transparent glass.

Photo Credit: Expo 2010

The builders of the Japan Pavilion used the concept of Eco-Breathing Architecture to create a structure that breathes like a living organism.

The pavilion's site says, "Vertical hollows are strategically placed in the pavilion to make use of ancient Japanese knowledge for maximum incorporation of the power of nature, such as bringing in sunlight, using stored rainwater, and circulating air naturally."

Photo Credit: Dan Nystedt, IDG News Service

You might also be interested in:

The Cutest Robots in the World

The Future Office: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

The 10 Dumbest Tech Products So Far