British robotics company Engineered Arts has demonstrated an impressive new humanoid robot capable of creating eerily realistic facial expressions.
The demo shows the gray-faced robot waking up, contorting its face into a grimace of shock, and then examining its hands in disbelief.
The robot ends his scene with a knowing smirk of “I got you,” as if he’s trying to trick us into thinking that he’s really gaining self-awareness.
It’s more than likely that the sequence of actions was planned in advance-but it’s nonetheless a stunning example of how far robotics has come.
Engineered Arts views its platform, called Ameca, as “a platform for the development of future robotic technology,” according to its website.
The robot is designed to explore human-robot interaction — and plausible facial signals make it that much easier.
The company is offering the robot for purchase and rental, but has not yet announced a price.
And a major caveat: While Ameca is impressive in its ability to convey emotion through facial expressions, it can’t walk yet.
“However, Ameca is a modular robot, and we plan to improve its abilities over time, so that one day Ameca will be able to walk,” the company says on its website.
