Engineered Arts, a manufacturer of humanoid robots from Great Britain, is going to make a real splash at the upcoming CES 2022. The key exhibit of this company will be a robot called Ameca, which is able to copy the facial expressions of a human face in the most believable way to date. On their website, representatives of Engineered Arts even call their creation “the future face of robotics.
We remind our readers that the company Engineered Arts is known in certain circles for a long time, thanks to the creation of robots, the appearance, behavior and actions of which mimic human to the maximum extent possible. Previous models of this company – SociBot, Mesmer and RoboThespian have already been able to demonstrate a wide range of emotions, including changing surface colors to better imitate human skin and hair.
Almost all of Engineered Arts’ robots are designed to perform in front of people. The Mesmer robot’s control system, for example, allowed it to make speeches using pre-prepared speech blanks. All these robots cannot walk or move in any other way, they can only move their arms, fingers, neck, head, mouth and eyes. But these movements look as human-like as possible.
The Ameca robot was designed as a versatile platform available for purchase by a variety of customers, who can add an artificial intelligence system and other software to the robot if they wish, which can give the robot new capabilities. The built-in software is capable of realistic imitation of human facial expressions, emotions and some behavioral elements. Under its control and depending on the situation, the robot can smile, frown, engage in an open dialogue or, conversely, adhere to the principle of “keep your mouth shut”.
All of this is very clearly demonstrated in the video presented here. One gets the feeling that the Ameca robot, waking up after a nap, is experiencing a kind of surprise caused by its own existence. And looking into the camera and as if finding the viewer looking at him, this robot demonstrates a sense of embarrassment and defeat.
Will Jackson, founder of Engineered Arts, said in a recent interview that the abilities of the Ameca robot and its predecessors are the result of 15 years of work and research. The company’s ultimate goal is to create robots capable of interacting with people in a way that is completely natural and familiar to them.
Currently, Ameca robots are available for purchase by customers through the website of Engineered Arts. It also offers several models of these robots, which can be rented for various events and activities.
