A world leader in lifelike humanoid robots has opened its doors for a rare look at its droid creation process.
Engineered Arts is a company in Cornwall, UK, whose bots have been shipped all over the world for entertainment, information, education, and research.
They include the stunning Mesmer: a Westworld-style robot that’s designed to closely mimic human anatomy.
The bio-mechanical machine – complete with artificial skin and a neck with vertebrae that curl and twist – boasts cutting-edge animatronics, freeing it to move like a human.
These droids are built using the company’s custom-made animation software and can be based on fictional or real-life people, with accuracy possible to the last pore or finest of hairs.
“Every motor and sensor is an internet connected device, meaning they can be controlled, reprogrammed, animated and maintained from anywhere in the world,” says the company of its bot.
The company’s headquarters are located near Falmouth on the coast of Cornwall in Southwest England.
Inside, engineers and specialists in robot prosthetics tinker away at the robots’ body parts, including mechanical legs, arms, and computer brains.
And the technical marvels have attracted some big-name clients including NASA, London’s Science Museum and the Copernicus Science Centre in Warsaw.
Engineered Arts other creations include RoboThespian: a multilingual robot that touts an “expressive range of movements and emotions”.
True to its name, the life-size bot has even starred in a play.
Then there’s the smaller SociBot, which boasts 40 different faces that are projected from its head and eyes that “follow you around the room”.
The two can be seen at museums, galleries, and theme parks – so maybe it’s just a matter of time before someone snaps them up for a real-life Westworld.
