Natasha Anderson for Mailonline
15:38 11 June 2024, updated 15:52 11 June 2024
A factory in China is developing hyper-realistic humanoid robots that can chillingly mimic human facial expressions and emotions in the latest attempt by scientists to replace workers with machines.
Ex-Robots, a robotics firm based in the northeastern coastal city of Dalian, is working to create living droids that engineers hope will soon be used in healthcare and education.
Eerie footage from the Ex-Robots factory shows workers surrounded by piles of disembodied heads, neck-length silicone masks and replacement limbs as they work to build the world’s most complex class of robotic products.
Drawings of robot designs adorn the wall, while female robots with fancy wigs and make-up faces are displayed along the factory floor.
More disturbing, however, is how the company’s engineers create their robotic duplicates and train them to replicate their expressions and emotions.
Video captured from inside the factory shows how when a former robot worker moves her head, smiles and sticks her tongue out, the humanoid robot mimics her exact movements.
To recognize and imitate human behavior, the droids use small motors installed in several places in the head and artificial intelligence.
“We have our own software and algorithm teams,” revealed former Robots CEO Li Boyang.
“There are many underlying models and algorithms that are commonly open source that everyone uses. However, we are more focused on how to enable AI to recognize and express expressions and emotions.”
He added that the start-up, which was founded in 2009 and began developing humanoid robots in 2016, is also working on its ‘core model’.
“The model we are creating is multimodal and capable of emotional expression,” Li said. “It can sense the surrounding environment and produce appropriate facial feedback.”
Ex-Robots said it takes two weeks to a month to produce a humanoid robot, with prices ranging from ¥1.5 million (£162,000) to ¥2 million (£216,000).
For now, the main purpose of the company’s robots is to be displayed in museums, one of which houses Ex-Robots in the same building as its factory.
Looking to the future, Li believes that humanoid robots will play a larger role in healthcare and education.
“Psychological counseling and health are certainly future application scenarios. We are currently conducting related research such as adjuvant treatment and pre-screening for emotional and psychological disorders,” he said.
“Furthermore, I believe that emotional interaction has a wider application in service areas such as those aimed at children.”
Ex-Robots showcased its humanoid robots at the World Robot Conference, China’s leading robotics conference and exhibition, in August last year, where it exhibited its animatronic heads and humanoid robots.
Li said during the conference that humanoid robots are ideal for roles that require interaction with the public, such as museums, tourist attractions, schools and “companion scenarios”.
The company claimed that the droids embodied the image of what robots are supposed to be in the popular imagination – with synthetic skin and realistic facial expressions complete with moving arms and hands.
Ex-Robots reportedly used 3D scanning, digital design, and 3D printing to create their synthetic skin, and in 2023 they were credited with creating the world’s lightest humanoid robot, according to Interesting Engineering.
Ex-Robots opened its EX Future Science and Technology Museum in China’s Liaoning Province in 2022, six years after the firm began its droid development efforts.
The museum – which is the first robot museum in the country – aims to immerse visitors in a full robotic experience, including replacing humans with humanoid robots as guides.
The robots also use advanced technologies, intelligent voice dialogues and cognitive technologies to directly interact with visitors.
The museum also includes an AI robot research center, a bionic robot production center, a bionic experiment module, and other cutting-edge exhibits for visitors to explore.