Russian Company Promobot is Selling Robot Clones
If you ever dreamed of having a robot clone of yourself, then you might be in luck. Russian company Promobot has begun selling a robot companion that can be made to look like any person the customer desires. It’s called Android Robo-C and the company claims that it’s the world’s first humanoid android.
The robot is completely anthropomorphic and can copy human facial expressions by moving its eyes, eyebrows, lips and other muscles in the face. In total, the bot’s face has 18 moving parts with over 600 facial expressions. Android Robo-C also features realistic artificial skin.
Robot Clone Can Be Programmed to Mimic a Specific Person
The robot clone isn’t just about facial expressions. It can answer questions or simply have friendly conservation. It’s AI features over 100,000 speech modules. If you are looking for a specific personality, the robot’s speech and linguistic style can be programmed to match a specific person. Robo-C will communicate and answer questions by analyzing frequent expressions of the “original” and using a certain context of knowledge of this person.
“Everyone will now be able to order a robot with any appearance — for professional or personal use. Thus, we open a huge market in service, education, and entertainment. Imagine a replica of Michael Jordan selling basketball uniforms and William Shakespeare reading his own texts in a museum?” said Aleksei Iuzhakov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Promobot.
Promobot Can Work in Home, Stores, and Offices
The company feels the robot could be perfect as a home assistant or in a business environment. Android Robo-C could be quite useful as customer service in places like shopping centers, banks, post-offices, or municipal buildings. It can even be useful in an office environment by doing things like greeting visitors, communicating with employees, booking rooms, and recording meetings.
Promobot was founded in 2015. They are the largest manufacturer of autonomous service robots in Northern and Eastern Europe. Their robots can be found in 35 countries and such places as the Moscow metro, Baltimore airport, Dubai Mall and IKEA stores.
No word yet on pricing or when Robo-C will be available for purchase by the public. According to Promobot, they do already have several private orders and are negotiating with a wide variety of companies who are interested in purchasing the robot for customer service.
Check out our articles on pizza-making robots and Starbuck’s voice ordering.