Smilegate Future Lab said on Tuesday it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Seoul Metropolitan Science Museum on Jan. 20 to expand creative learning environments for teenagers. The agreement ceremony held at Smilegate Future Lab was attended by Yoo Man-sun (유만선), director of the Seoul Metropolitan Science Museum, and Baek Min-jung (백민정), head of the Future Lab Foundation centre, among others.

Under the agreement, the two organisations will link and jointly operate the Seoul Robot AI Science Museum's companion-robot invention programme and Smilegate Future Lab's Futurebee Challenge. It is significant as a meeting of creative learning programmes representing the private and public sectors.

The companion-robot invention programme is a programme the Seoul Robot AI Science Museum has operated since 2025. It has held 113 education sessions and lectures, and produced 34 prototypes applying robot technology. The process also led to tangible outcomes such as entries to Maker Faire Seoul 2025. Futurebee Challenge is a project in which children and teenagers use digital technology to solve social problems directly, and it is a leading domestic creative learning challenge with a cumulative participation of more than 40,000 people at schools and educational institutions nationwide over the past 5 years.

The two organisations also agreed to jointly develop creative, science and culture content and share online and offline platforms. They plan to expand cooperation in various areas, including exchanges of specialists and networks, and mutual support for spaces to operate exhibitions and events.

Yoo said the agreement was a meaningful case of the public and private sectors working together to expand a creative learning ecosystem for future generations. He said he would work harder to provide learning opportunities for Seoul teenagers to solve problems on their own and grow creatively.

Baek said cooperation with the Seoul Metropolitan Science Museum had made it possible to expand creative learning experiences in which teenagers directly explore advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and robots and use them as tools for problem-solving. She said she would continue to support teenagers so they do not stop at consuming technology, but grow into meaningful creators connected to society.