[imagesource:here]

Footage circulating on social media has left viewers awestruck, showcasing what seem to be eerily lifelike humanoid robots striking poses at the World Robot Conference in Beijing last week.

The scene captivated audiences, showcasing futuristic allure and technological advancements – until the illusion shattered.

Two of the “robots,” rather than being cutting-edge creations, were actually human women cosplaying as sleek, futuristic gynoids. Their presence, likely orchestrated by animatronics company Ex-Robots, added a twist to the spectacle, blurring the line between man and machine in a most unexpected way.

“Many people think these are all robots without realizing they’re actually two human beings cosplayed as robots among the animatronics,” reporter Byron Wan tweeted.

The uncanny con was discovered once an image of one of the hired women having lunch at the event started circulating online. Even humanoid robot cosplayers have to eat, it turns out.

During the World Robot Conference 2024 in Beijing from Aug 21 – Aug 25, 🇨🇳 animatronics company EX-Robot (or EX Robots as reported by some news media) hired 2 women cosplayed as robots to spice up the exhibition.

Hmmm… two human beings mimicked the movements of robots that… pic.twitter.com/hRGxgfe4mD

— Byron Wan (@Byron_Wan) August 26, 2024

This is really chilling as one of the biggest reasons people might be so resistant to such technological feats is precisely because of how grey the area will become between what is human and what is not. With the line so blurry, the human race has never felt so unsafe.

This isn’t the first time humans have masqueraded as robots on stage. Back in 2022, Tesla faced a wave of ridicule after hiring a dancer in a skin-tight spandex costume to perform as the company’s freshly announced Optimus robot, per Futurism.

However, the cosplayers enlisted by Ex-Robots were a different story altogether—far more convincing, their performance blurred the line between fantasy and reality. The illusion was so convincing that some readers on X had to step in when one particularly credulous user insisted that these cosplayers were “straight out of sci-fi” humanoid robots.

“The original post, clearly says these are fake robot girls,” a community note attached to the post reads. “Account owner is farming engagement.”

Despite opting for human cosplayers to man their booth at the conference, Ex-Robots is no stranger to the world of humanoid robotics. The company has indeed developed its own (albeit less convincing) humanoid robots, capable of performing a range of facial expressions to mimic human emotions.

Back in June, Reuters offered a glimpse into Ex-Robots’ workshop—a space where silicone arms and feet were strewn across tables, hinting at the company’s ongoing efforts to perfect the unsettling blend of the synthetic and the lifelike.

“The model we’re making is multi-modal and capable of emotional expression,” Ex-Robots CEO Li Boyang told Reuters at the time. “It can perceive the surrounding environment and produce appropriate facial feedback.”

Why the company chose to hire human cosplayers for last week’s World Robot Conference remains beyond us all. But the trick has opened up a whole can of worms around robots and humans in the future.

[source:futurism]