Robot Ameca with a Human Face... Will It Escape the 'Uncanny Valley'? [Juhyung Lim's Tech Talk]

Robot with Human-like Face 'Ameca' Gains Attention
Humanoid Development Started in the 1970s
Facial Expression Implementation Progresses Slowly
Due to Complexity of Facial Muscles and AI Technologies
Overcoming the 'Uncanny Valley' Remains a Major Challenge

Operating 모습 of Ameca, a humanoid developed by the UK robot and artificial intelligence (AI) development company 'Engineered Arts' / Photo by Engineered Arts YouTube capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] In Alex Garland's 2015 science fiction (SF) film Ex Machina, a humanoid robot named 'Ava' appears, whose face intricately mimics that of a human. Ava, with a robot body and a human face, was portrayed by Swedish actress Alicia Vikander, and the face shown in the film was directly that of the actress.

As robotics technology rapidly advances, robots capable of human-like movements and conversing by listening to others have emerged. However, a robot with a 'human-like face' has yet to be realized. This is because the human face, which expresses subtle emotional changes through dozens of muscles, is more difficult to imitate than any other movement.

The humanoid robot featured in the 2015 film "Ex Machina." Played by Swedish actress Alicia Vikander. / Photo by Internet homepage capture

At CES 2022, the world's largest consumer electronics show held annually in Las Vegas, USA, the humanoid robot 'Ameca' was unveiled, attracting public attention.

Ameca is a prototype robot developed by the British robotics company 'Engineered Arts,' created with a focus solely on the function of 'a robot capable of making human-like facial expressions.'

According to the developer, the robot's head is made of plastic. Inside the head are 17 small individual motors that control the robot's muscle movements, enabling it to make various facial expressions.

Ameca was first revealed last month through YouTube and social media platforms, becoming a hot topic among netizens. At that time, Engineered Arts showcased Ameca's smiling, surprised, and curious expressions, which led netizens to praise it with comments such as "It feels like a real person" and "There is none of the awkwardness felt in previous robots."

Ameca robot unveiled at CES 2022 / Photo by Yonhap News

According to the official website of Engineered Arts, Ameca is currently available for rental or purchase for events. However, it seems it will take a long time before Ameca becomes a true 'humanoid' that can walk around and converse with people. To make Ameca a complete humanoid, various movements and AI platform developments must be completed.

Regarding this, the developer stated, "Ameca's main purpose is to build an AI platform," and expressed hope that "one day, by combining advances in robotics and AI technology, we will see Ameca walking around on its own."

Attempts to develop humanoid robots?robots in human form?have been ongoing for a long time. The first humanoid robot was 'Wabot-1,' developed in 1973 by Professor Ichiro Kato's team at Waseda University in Japan. Although rudimentary, it could walk on two legs and automatically answer simple questions through built-in devices.

Over the next approximately 50 years, numerous research teams and companies studied humanoids, and their results have recently gained attention. For example, Boston Dynamics in the USA developed 'Atlas,' a bipedal humanoid capable of running and jumping like a human. Thanks to AI development, robots that can recognize human language and respond directly have also appeared. Moreover, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, announced last year plans to develop 'Tesla Bot,' a humanoid robot capable of performing labor instead of humans.

Humanoid 'Atlas' developed by the US robotics company Boston Dynamics, capable of running like a human / Photo by Boston Dynamics YouTube capture

However, the development of robots with human-like faces has progressed relatively slowly. The humanoids revealed so far have used displays to replace the head area, showing images rather than equipping a human-like face.

Implementing human facial expressions mechanically is a very challenging task. According to current medical research, the human face has a total of 21 types of muscles, amounting to nearly 80 muscles in number. These muscles move individually to express various emotions such as happiness, sadness, and fear through facial expressions.

Ameca replaces muscle movements with 17 small motors. However, even Ameca, which has been praised as 'truly human-like,' has clear limits on the number of expressions it can make. To create more natural and subtle expressions, the current motors and control software need to become much more precise.

Furthermore, even if an ultra-precise robot face capable of various expressions is created, it is another challenge for the robot's 'brain' to instruct appropriate facial movements. To make expressions, the robot must first recognize emotions. The robot views the person it is conversing with through a camera lens and goes through a complex process of analyzing the expression with computer vision AI to 'guess' the emotion.

The technology of Ameca introduced on the official website of Engineered Arts. AI recognizes facial expressions through computer vision, analyzes emotions, and instructs the robot hardware to respond appropriately accordingly. / Photo by Engineered Arts Official Website

In other words, creating a robot that makes human-like facial expressions requires a considerable level of technological expertise in both robotics and AI software.

The so-called 'uncanny valley' phenomenon is also a major challenge in humanoid development. The uncanny valley theory, first proposed in the 1970s by Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori, states that as robots or computer graphics imperfectly resemble humans, they evoke a strong sense of discomfort at a certain point. Robots that awkwardly resemble humans can instead cause aversion. The high difficulty and risk of failure are major reasons hindering the development of 'humanoid robots with human faces.'

The term "uncanny valley" refers to the phenomenon of feeling strong aversion when seeing an entity that imperfectly resembles a human. The photo shows "Sophia," a humanoid AI robot developed by the Hong Kong company Hanson Robotics. Photo by Yonhap News

However, Ameca's success may inject new vitality into future robot facial expression development. According to reports from local media such as the US IT specialist media 'CNET,' Ameca attracted tens of millions of netizens' attention after its unveiling.

For event-use Ameca, priced at $250,000 (approximately 300 million KRW) per unit, four orders were placed in just one day after the opening of CES 2022. This resulted in sales of $1 million (approximately 1.2 billion KRW) at once.

Morgan Roe, Engineered Arts' head of sales, said in an interview with 'CNET,' "Humanoid robots that were once only seen in movies like iRobot or A.I. have now become a reality."

However, Roe cautioned that it will still take nearly ten years for Ameca to be developed into a complete humanoid and that it has not yet fully escaped the 'uncanny valley.'

He explained, "Before Ameca, we tried to make a perfectly human-like robot. But when we saw that robot in operation, we felt an ominous sensation. It was inside the uncanny valley. So, Ameca was made with gray-toned skin and a plastic texture. The less human-like it is, the less scary it feels."