Scientists have given robots f*#@en terrifyingly realistic facial expressions

Credit: Engineered Arts

Scientists have given robots f*#@en terrifyingly realistic facial expressions

Whether we like it or not, bloody robots are going to become a big part of our future, and that’s why we tend to pay a fair whack of attention to news that features robots and their wacky – and often terrifying – new capabilities. When we saw the faces this new one can pull, we knew we’d have to share it because…well, just have a bloody gander.

We’ll start by saying that we’re not exactly sure what it is, but it’s true that when robots perform people-like actions, we experience a few different emotions. Obviously, there might be that whole uncanny valley thing going on, but we don’t know enough of that to speak authoritatively.

Credit: Engineered Arts

Of course, we can’t honestly say that the non-human ones don’t freak us out either. After all, we’ve seen Chopping Mall and the fact there’s a robot getting around the local Woolworths doesn’t always leave us feeling comfortable.

Still, those have got nothing on the one in this video. This overly expressive mother**ker has got the kind of face that tells no lies. Yeah, nah, you know what this one’s feeling, and if we had to sum it up, we’d say that it’s feeling slightly creepy – especially if that last facial expression is anything to go by.

That’s because it wears a face that can replicate a shit-tonne of real emotional expressions. Its makers, Engineered Arts, reckon the robot is designed to help us study human-robot interaction. It runs on a platform called Ameca, and the company says believable expressions make that a lot easier.

Fortunately, though, this one’s only running through some programmed moves and can’t actually walk anywhere. Yeah, right now the bloody thing is stationary. Still, Engineered Arts have said, “Ameca is a modular robot, we plan on upgrading [its] abilities over time so one day Ameca will walk,” and that’s terrifying.

Yeah, nah, imagine if they melded this thing with the Boston Dynamics robots. It could look at you with a puppy-dog expression while it chased you menacingly into a dystopian future.

Maybe.

Final thought: Yeah, look, it’s hard to avoid making the same jokes as the rest of the world when we see new advances in robotics, but we bloody love this s**t. We’re nerds and sci-fi fans at heart, so we can’t bloody wait until we’ve got a robot butler of our own. We’ll call him Gary and he’ll bring us all the beers!

Just in case you missed it, here’s one of Ozzy’s latest commentary videos…Ozzy Man Reviews: Composure #2

Video Link: Engineered Arts

H/T: FUTURISM.