UK Company Releases Video of “Ameca” Arguably the Most Advanced Humanoid Robot yet
2 min read
Cornwall (UK) Engineers from England have developed a robot whose facial features look almost human. Ameca is currently the “most advanced human-like robot”. At least that’s what the company that builds the robot claims and wants to convince us with a video that it is not a CGI trick either.
Ameca was specially designed as a platform for the development of future robot technologies and is therefore, so to speak, a humanoid robot platform for human-robot interaction. The technologies behind it should be modular and upgradeable. One is convinced: A human-like artificial intelligence needs a human-like artificial body.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning systems can be tested and developed on Ameca together with the “Tritium” robot operating system. The Ameca hardware is a development based on the company’s “Engineered Arts” research in the field of humanoid robotics and based on a proprietary technology called Mesmer.
The smooth transition between the various facial animations raises machine facial expressions to a new level, especially if you compare them with the abrupt attempts of models that were previously considered to be progressive, such as the robot lady Sophia.
Apparently Ameca is already available to buy or rent for events. However, the machine is not quite perfect yet. It is designed to be modular and will be gradually improved. For example, Ameca does not yet have functioning legs, but arms, hands and fingers for rudimentary gestures in combination with suitable facial expressions.
The Rise of the Machines
If you are now afraid that the company might develop the Terminator and Skynet, you can calm down for now, as the robot’s processes are controlled by humans and it does not act and think independently, at least not for now. Maybe a future update will allow the machines to take over the world, but it certainly will take a lot more time, so for now we are safe.
These type of machines like Ameca just mimic human behavior based on algorithms and defined rules made by software developers, not true self aware AI like in the movies. Machines with intelligence on a human level are likely to be possible in the future, but whether they will actually be fully conscious remains unknown. Even the best and most sophisticated brain simulations, according to scientists, are unlikely to generate conscious emotions.
Experts predict that the first rough “artificial general intelligence” (AGI) will be created by around 2030. However, its also expected that it won’t be until 2060 that AGI will be advanced enough to pass a “consciousness test”. So we still have a few decades before the machines can rise.
The teaser video of the robot can be watched on YouTube:
More information about the robot and its technology can be found on the official website: https://www.engineeredarts.co.uk/robot/ameca/
Boston Dynamics, which has developed the most advanced humanoid robot ever created, has spent more than a decade working on its Atlas platform. While progress has been impressive, with Atlas running, jumping and even dancing in front of tens of millions of YouTube viewers, the company is quick to acknowledge that the robot is a long way from performing complex tasks autonomously. One of the best examples of evolutionary robotics potential — and unfulfilled promise — goes as far back as 2010 to a study published in the PLOS Biology journal.