Geishas may be traditional Japanese hostesses - but Toshiba's latest creation is as cutting edge as it gets.
The Japanese company revealed an eerily lifelike robotic geisha at the massive Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week.
Named ChihiraAico, the robot is - in the words of Toshiba - meant to create "real heart-warming communication with human-like facial expressions."
It is programmed to sing, wave and could one day even play music and act as a real-life hostess. Although, whether you'd want to be greeted by it is another matter.
The robot uses 43 pneumatic actuators (the basis for movement) including 15 in its face and 24 spread throughout its shoulders, arms and hands to create unnervingly smooth movement.
According to Toshiba, the robot can reflect human emotions like happiness, annoyance or sadness with unerring accuracy.
It says that ChihiraAico has the world's highest level of natural and realistic facial expressions.
In the future, these robots could potentially put real life humans out of work by taking positions such as carers, waitresses/waiters and performers.
Would you trust this robot?
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