Engineered Arts, a robotics company based in the United Kingdom, has unveiled an astonishing new humanoid robot that can make frighteningly lifelike facial expressions.
The grey-faced robot wakes up, distorts its face into a shocked grimace, and then examines its hands in amazement, according to a teaser video.
The robot closes its act with a knowing “I got you” grin as if it’s attempting to trick us into thinking it’s gaining self-awareness.
It’s a cunning ruse — the sequence was most likely planned ahead of time — but it’s still a visually amazing demonstration of how far robotics has progressed.
According to its website, Human-Robot Interaction Engineered Arts sees the platform, dubbed Ameca, as a “platform for development into future robotics technology.”
The robot’s purpose is to help us study human-robot interaction, and genuine facial cues make that much easier.
The company is selling the robot and renting it out for events, but no pricing has been announced.
And there’s a catch: while Ameca is good at expressing emotions through facial expressions, it can’t yet walk.
“However, because Ameca is a modular robot, we intend to upgrade [its] capacities over time so that one-day Ameca will walk,” according to the company’s website.
