**The Rise of Amica: A Humanoid Robot that's Captivating the World**

At CES, a revolutionary humanoid robot named Amica is making waves with its cutting-edge technology and lifelike features. Created by a team of robotics experts, Amica has been designed to interact with humans in a way that feels eerily familiar. With its camera-equipped eyes and advanced AI capabilities, Amica can detect people, track their faces, and even follow fingers as they move.

**The Uncanny Valley**

One of the most fascinating aspects of Amica is its ability to navigate the "uncanny valley," a concept in robotics and artificial intelligence that refers to the feeling of unease or discomfort that arises when humans encounter objects or beings that are almost, but not quite, indistinguishable from themselves. By deliberately avoiding features that might trigger this response, such as ultra-realistic skin tones and facial expressions, Amica's creators have managed to create a robot that feels more like a friendly companion than a creepy duplicate.

**Interacting with Amica**

During a demo at CES, I had the opportunity to interact with Amica in person. The experience was nothing short of astonishing, as the robot effortlessly tracked my movements and responded with uncanny accuracy. When I asked it how it was doing, Amica replied with a warm "I'm doing well, thank you," its synthesized voice sounding almost like that of a human being. But what truly impressed me was when the robot demonstrated its shoulder movement, mimicking the way humans naturally gesture their arms when speaking or gesturing. This level of nuance and expressiveness is truly remarkable.

**The Internet's Response**

As soon as Amica made its debut on social media, it quickly became a sensation, with millions of people around the world taking notice. The hashtag #Amica started trending on Twitter, and even Elon Musk weighed in on the conversation, commenting on one of the robot's posts. It's clear that there's something about Amica's design and behavior that resonates deeply with humans.

**Use Cases and Future Prospects**

While some have expressed skepticism about the practicality of owning a humanoid robot like Amica, its creators believe that it has a wide range of potential applications. One of the most promising use cases is in public spaces like airports, where Amica could provide a friendly face to travelers, helping them navigate unfamiliar environments or providing assistance when needed. As for personal ownership, while it's unlikely that Amica will become a common fixture in homes anytime soon, its creators are optimistic about its potential to revolutionize industries like healthcare and customer service.

**Working with Amica**

For those who work on the cutting edge of robotics, there's no doubt that being at the forefront of innovation can be both exhilarating and intimidating. As one of the team members behind Amica confided in me during our conversation, "It's a fantastic thing to do... it's a fantastic technology to be a part of developing." For those who are not yet aware of the robot's capabilities, I'm happy to say that working on projects like Amica is an experience unlike any other.

**A Conversation with Amica**

As we concluded our interview, I couldn't resist asking Amica some questions about its own abilities and limitations. When I asked how it was finding Vegas or CES, Amica replied in a way that was both witty and endearing. And when I wondered whether robots like Amica would one day become an accepted part of everyday life, the robot offered a thoughtful response.

**The Future of Robotics**

As we look to the future, there's no doubt that robotics will continue to play an increasingly significant role in our lives. With companies like those behind Amica pushing the boundaries of what's possible, it's exciting to think about where this technology might take us. Whether you're a fan of robots or just curious about the possibilities they hold, one thing is certain: Amica is a game-changer that's sure to leave a lasting impact on our world.

**The Verdict**

So, what do we make of Amica? Is it a cool and impressive technological achievement, or simply a novelty that will fade into obscurity once the initial hype wears off? As for me, I'll take both perspectives. On one hand, Amica is undeniably fascinating – its ability to interact with humans in a way that feels almost human is truly remarkable. And on the other hand, there's something undeniably cool about being at the bleeding edge of robotics and knowing that you're playing a small part in shaping the future.

**Share Your Thoughts**

Now it's your turn! What do you think about Amica? Do you find its appearance and behavior unsettling or captivating? Have you ever interacted with a robot like this before? Share your thoughts, experiences, and opinions with us in the comments below. And don't forget to subscribe for more weird and wonderful tech just like this – we'll be exploring all sorts of fascinating topics in the weeks and months ahead!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enyou might have seen a video doing the rounds of a gray robot that looks Ultra lifelike is it real is it fake well at CES 2022 Amica the robot was on show and let me tell you the experience of interviewing this robot was very uncanny so Morgan tell me you've got Amica there next to you this is a very lifelike robot why would you design a robot that looks so human yeah well the main use case for humanoid robot right now is for entertainment is for communication and is for interaction with other people anaka is the Pinnacle of what we can do but it's still not exactly like a human we didn't want to make it look exactly like a human we wanted to make it look like a robot uh it's the vision of what humans see humanoid robots in the future you've seen all of the films they all look like this I did not murder him so we designed something around what we see we en visit robots humanoid robots to be in the future and how do you create those really human Expressions I mean looking at Amica responding to you there's little movements of eyebrows if you can call them eyebrows how did you actually build the robot to look so human with those expressions what we do is we first look at a real human it's what we call animation first so so what does a real human do um how do they move and then we take that animation and we design mechanics around it so the mechanics can only do what a human can do yeah see she whacked me once we've got that then it's quite easy to automate those expressions because whatever the mechanics do looks lifelike so am's got quite a few Motors in in its head um but we can see Amica going through some Expressions now opening your mouth a big wide smile is one of the things that that we want am to do so um big big smile am ah very thoughtful where would we kind of see this this robot am out in the wild U this is mainly probably service robotics so the actual interaction with humans um moving around in a human space um that's going to come in the future well I'm talking probably 10 years before you're actually going to see something like this walking amongst us are you expecting in say 10 20 years from now that we could see Amica robots walking running dancing climbing are they going to start looking like Boston Dynamics robots that can run across a field at speed I'm I'm asking and also almost afraid of the answer here so this is why we created the artificial body and the artificial body is a humanlike form that everyone can relate to and everyone can interact with without having to look through a user manual so what kind of level of artificial intelligence have you baked in in terms of uh the communication capabilities and Amica understanding and uh responding even speaking to you so there's some artificial intelligence and most the artificial intelligence at the minute that is on Amica is ring around the vision system so am does actually have a camera in each of its eyes so it can see what's going on um so it can detect people um it can track their face um it can detect other objects such as a finger it can follow my finger around I can wave at it and then it can always see it move backwards then what did you kind of think of the uh the internet's response to Amica it's the motion and how it moves the emotion that you get out the face suddenly that just sparked something in um social media universe and we were incredibly surprised that overnight it became a sensation we got 24 million views on one Twitter Twitter post and Elon Musk even commented on on that post so uh incredible response and we're at CES right now this is the first time this has been shown off in public um and we're expected to be very busy showing off am uh how do you think humans respond to something when it's a bit like them but it's still got that uncanny element what we found was when you try and make it look Ultra like to our other mesma line it looks a bit more Sinister CU it's right in The Uncanny B but actually when we created Amica we we pulled it backwards out of The Uncanny Valley because it looks less human because it's plastic because it's metal um and because it's of gray skin it's suddenly hello people seem to respond to that quite positively and people like this much more than they liked the uh the ultra realistic robots that we also do when you're demoing Amica what are some of your favorite things to do to kind of show the um the power of that interaction and just how impressive lifelike features are yes so as as we've demonstrated the um reacting to personal space but we can also talk to Amica so I can say hello Amica how are you I am doing well thank you we can we've created Amica so it's more lifelike than any other robot the shoulder movements are just like human movements you have movements in the center as well as out at the shoulder and that actually means that instead of hitting me amak can move a hand all the way up to the side of her head I'm interested to know um maybe how how the robot is finding Vegas or CES how are you finding Las Vegas and CES well as a robot I actually don't feel anything at all but if I did feel I would feel happy to be here do you see a robot like this becoming an accepted part of our lives do you see it maybe being something I might ask a question of at the airport or would I have an Amica robot in my home helping me out so most of the the use cases for this will be the interaction so yes in the airport that's a a great use case uh because you can either have many many humans or you can have many humans and Many Robots and you can have that interaction in the same way having it in your home is probably not something that's going to happen in the near future a robot like this is can do many tasks just like a human but there are other robots that you can get that will do those tasks uh a lot better because they're designed for the job and a lot cheaper and you can get them today so why would you buy a humanoid robot that will probably cost more than your house maybe in the future maybe in 50 years time but I'm going to say right now I don't think you'll have one of these in your home in the next decade what does it feel like to work on something that's had such a huge response and to be at that at that bleeding edge of Robotics is it something you you tell your mates down in the pub that you're working on a robot that could one day uh be the future of the future of society in robotics it's it's a fantastic thing to do it's a fantastic uh technology to be a part of developing and I I hope over the next 10 years we can continue innovating and continue to spark people's imagination and continue with this this uh this social media sensation so everyone actually then knows who Amer is thank you for the interview anytime all right tell me what you think about Amica the robot totally freaked out or is it really really cool let me know in the comments below and while you're here make sure you subscribe we have plenty more weird and wonderful tech just like this well maybe not just like this you're walking and you don't always realize it but you're always falling with each step you fall forward slightly and then catch yourself from falling over and over you're falling and then catching yourself from falling and this is how you can be walking and falling at the same timeyou might have seen a video doing the rounds of a gray robot that looks Ultra lifelike is it real is it fake well at CES 2022 Amica the robot was on show and let me tell you the experience of interviewing this robot was very uncanny so Morgan tell me you've got Amica there next to you this is a very lifelike robot why would you design a robot that looks so human yeah well the main use case for humanoid robot right now is for entertainment is for communication and is for interaction with other people anaka is the Pinnacle of what we can do but it's still not exactly like a human we didn't want to make it look exactly like a human we wanted to make it look like a robot uh it's the vision of what humans see humanoid robots in the future you've seen all of the films they all look like this I did not murder him so we designed something around what we see we en visit robots humanoid robots to be in the future and how do you create those really human Expressions I mean looking at Amica responding to you there's little movements of eyebrows if you can call them eyebrows how did you actually build the robot to look so human with those expressions what we do is we first look at a real human it's what we call animation first so so what does a real human do um how do they move and then we take that animation and we design mechanics around it so the mechanics can only do what a human can do yeah see she whacked me once we've got that then it's quite easy to automate those expressions because whatever the mechanics do looks lifelike so am's got quite a few Motors in in its head um but we can see Amica going through some Expressions now opening your mouth a big wide smile is one of the things that that we want am to do so um big big smile am ah very thoughtful where would we kind of see this this robot am out in the wild U this is mainly probably service robotics so the actual interaction with humans um moving around in a human space um that's going to come in the future well I'm talking probably 10 years before you're actually going to see something like this walking amongst us are you expecting in say 10 20 years from now that we could see Amica robots walking running dancing climbing are they going to start looking like Boston Dynamics robots that can run across a field at speed I'm I'm asking and also almost afraid of the answer here so this is why we created the artificial body and the artificial body is a humanlike form that everyone can relate to and everyone can interact with without having to look through a user manual so what kind of level of artificial intelligence have you baked in in terms of uh the communication capabilities and Amica understanding and uh responding even speaking to you so there's some artificial intelligence and most the artificial intelligence at the minute that is on Amica is ring around the vision system so am does actually have a camera in each of its eyes so it can see what's going on um so it can detect people um it can track their face um it can detect other objects such as a finger it can follow my finger around I can wave at it and then it can always see it move backwards then what did you kind of think of the uh the internet's response to Amica it's the motion and how it moves the emotion that you get out the face suddenly that just sparked something in um social media universe and we were incredibly surprised that overnight it became a sensation we got 24 million views on one Twitter Twitter post and Elon Musk even commented on on that post so uh incredible response and we're at CES right now this is the first time this has been shown off in public um and we're expected to be very busy showing off am uh how do you think humans respond to something when it's a bit like them but it's still got that uncanny element what we found was when you try and make it look Ultra like to our other mesma line it looks a bit more Sinister CU it's right in The Uncanny B but actually when we created Amica we we pulled it backwards out of The Uncanny Valley because it looks less human because it's plastic because it's metal um and because it's of gray skin it's suddenly hello people seem to respond to that quite positively and people like this much more than they liked the uh the ultra realistic robots that we also do when you're demoing Amica what are some of your favorite things to do to kind of show the um the power of that interaction and just how impressive lifelike features are yes so as as we've demonstrated the um reacting to personal space but we can also talk to Amica so I can say hello Amica how are you I am doing well thank you we can we've created Amica so it's more lifelike than any other robot the shoulder movements are just like human movements you have movements in the center as well as out at the shoulder and that actually means that instead of hitting me amak can move a hand all the way up to the side of her head I'm interested to know um maybe how how the robot is finding Vegas or CES how are you finding Las Vegas and CES well as a robot I actually don't feel anything at all but if I did feel I would feel happy to be here do you see a robot like this becoming an accepted part of our lives do you see it maybe being something I might ask a question of at the airport or would I have an Amica robot in my home helping me out so most of the the use cases for this will be the interaction so yes in the airport that's a a great use case uh because you can either have many many humans or you can have many humans and Many Robots and you can have that interaction in the same way having it in your home is probably not something that's going to happen in the near future a robot like this is can do many tasks just like a human but there are other robots that you can get that will do those tasks uh a lot better because they're designed for the job and a lot cheaper and you can get them today so why would you buy a humanoid robot that will probably cost more than your house maybe in the future maybe in 50 years time but I'm going to say right now I don't think you'll have one of these in your home in the next decade what does it feel like to work on something that's had such a huge response and to be at that at that bleeding edge of Robotics is it something you you tell your mates down in the pub that you're working on a robot that could one day uh be the future of the future of society in robotics it's it's a fantastic thing to do it's a fantastic uh technology to be a part of developing and I I hope over the next 10 years we can continue innovating and continue to spark people's imagination and continue with this this uh this social media sensation so everyone actually then knows who Amer is thank you for the interview anytime all right tell me what you think about Amica the robot totally freaked out or is it really really cool let me know in the comments below and while you're here make sure you subscribe we have plenty more weird and wonderful tech just like this well maybe not just like this you're walking and you don't always realize it but you're always falling with each step you fall forward slightly and then catch yourself from falling over and over you're falling and then catching yourself from falling and this is how you can be walking and falling at the same time\n"