Humanoid robots are getting close to reality
Walking, talking machines will soon act as guides, companions and deliverers
Asked a question, Ameca fixes you with sapphire-blue eyes. Does that face contain a hint of a smile? “Yes, I am a robot,” is the reply. Another Ameca, standing nearby in a group of four, stares across inquisitively and tries to join in. “Currently, it’s the worst-ever party guest,” says Will Jackson, Ameca’s creator. “It butts in on every conversation and never shuts up.”
Mr Jackson, boss of Engineered Arts, a small robotics company in Falmouth, south-west England, is trying to fix that problem. Those eyes contain cameras and the Amecas are being trained to recognise faces and decide who is paying attention or making eye contact during conversations. Teaching manners to robots in this way is another step in the long, complicated process of making humanlike machines that can live and work alongside people—and, importantly, do so safely. As Ameca and other robots show, great strides are being made towards this end.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline "A cryin’, talkin’, sleepin’, walkin’, livin’ doll"
More from Science & technology
It is dangerously easy to hack the world’s phones
A system at the heart of global telecommunications is woefully insecure
The Great Barrier Reef is seeing unprecedented coral bleaching
Continued global warming will mean its obliteration
Some corals are better at handling the heat
Scientists are helping them breed