While other people are convinced that she looks like Scarlett Johansson, to me she appears as a cross between her and Kristen Stewart. But to be honest, this robot doesn’t particularly fascinate me since there are some other robots that have much better performance and emotion rendering abilities but since it resembles the famous actress, it is getting the attention.
Called Mark 1 by its inventor Ricky Ma who hails from Hong Kong China, the humanoid robot cost around $50,000 from scratch and employed advanced robotics to mimic human expressions. Since it is the attractive actress, it winks when complimented and says thank you as well. But, it is not able to do that all too well and as a result, it all looks a little quirky and creepy and not sexy as it is meant to be. Ricky Ma was a graphics designer who had no experience in robotics before who made Mark 1. he taught himself everything and learned a lot while building the robot. It took him a year and a half to achieve that. He designed most of the structure and parts from scratch which is an achievement. So, despite the shortcomings, it is a good achievement to build this robot considering the isolation he had to deal with while making it. He had been obsessed with building such a robot since he was a child and he has never stopped loving his favorite characters as well.
The skeleton is 3D printed as part of the 70% 3D material incorporated into the making of Mark 1. It responds to a set of vocal commands and take actions accordingly. It can bend, turn its head and do simple movements with arms and legs. It can also carry out detailed movements.
According to Photojournalist Bobby Yip, who came up with this story, the Mark 1 is a beautiful thing to look at in person. Its facial expressions also appear quite real as well. Kind of like celebrities in person isn’t she? Hollow, robotic and forever smiling? Hehe!
Here is the Mark 1 in action. See for yourself if you can decide between Scarlett Johansson and Kristen Stewart!
