[The industry is crazy] Ameca, a humanoid robot with stunning realism

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Imagined for decades in a multitude of works of science fiction, the arrival of robots in every way similar to human beings is still a fantasy today. Thanks to advances in robotics-related technologies, some automatons nevertheless manage to imitate their creators with increasingly impressive realism. In this area, the Ameca robot surpasses all its competitors.

A sophisticated puppet

In order to prove the capabilities of its android, the British start-up Engineered Arts unveiled a short presentation video in early December. During it, Ameca seems to wake up in bewilderment, looks down at her hands, wrinkling her forehead, blinks a few times, then waves at the camera, smiling at her. Perfectly fluid and believable, the expressions on her gray face are stunning. The feeling of unease usually felt when faced with such creatures has (almost) completely disappeared.

Unlike Boston Dynamics robots, this humanoid is however unable to dance or do parkour, since it does not have legs for the moment. Ameca cannot engage in conversation with its interlocutors either, it is content to execute movements according to predefined programs. In this, he looks much less like the philosopher robot from the film I, Robot than the best animatronic puppets in our amusement parks.

Lack of outlets

The Engineered Arts team, which is also working on another similar project called Mesmer, however, ensures that its products can be used by other companies specializing in artificial intelligence. These would not have to worry about the technical aspect, and could thus concentrate on the algorithms used to make the answers of their robots more convincing. Gynoid Sophia, famous for obtaining Saudi citizenship in 2017, would surely look even more stunning if equipped with a face as expressive as Ameca's.

Although Elon Musk recently announced that he wants to launch a Tesla humanoid robot prototype in 2022, the sector is struggling to take off. The French nugget Aldebaran, designer of the Nao and Pepper robots, has never really been able to find its audience, and the Honda motorist gave up in 2019 to conquer this market, for lack of commercial outlets.