Sir David Hanson had once rightly stated, “we are seeing the arrival of conversational robots that can walk in our world. It is a golden age of Invention.” Indeed, we are living in that “golden” era, which is gearing up to witness the emergence of artificial ‘robotic cultures’ that might take over human aptitudes with the razor-sharp intelligence of Humanoid robots. Easily considerable as the magnum opus in robotics, Sophia, a pristine-looking female Robot with her doe-brown eyes, porcelain skin and a seraphic smile has been making international headlines since 25th October 2017.

David Hanson, the founder of Hong Kong-based Hanson Robotics, is the inventor of this Audrey Hepburn lookalike humanoid robot. Since its invention, the robot has been creating a lot of buzzes all around the globe. However, the most exciting thing about Sophia is the fact that it’s been granted the citizenship in Saudi Arabia, which is also considered as the very first country in the world to give a robot the same status received by the humans. Ever since the invention, Sophia has caused a stirring ripple the world across, but let’s not forget a string of many other robots that had once created headlines for their revolutionary features and the uncanny similarities with their human counterparts. Below are mentioned some of these enormously popular robots in the world –

Kodomoroid –

Kodomoroid is considered to be the world’s very first newscaster humanoid. In the year 2014, a bunch of world-famous Japanese scientists had proudly unveiled what they proclaimed to be the world’s very first news-reading robot. This human-like newscaster named “Kodomoroid” had taken the world by storm by reading an FBI raid and a crucial segment on live television. Despite having retired to the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation Tokyo, Kodomoroid is still very much ‘alive’ and active today. Nowadays, she is allegedly helping the visitors and also collecting data for the future studies regarding the communication between humanoids and their organic counterparts.

BINA48 –

There have been a lot of jaw-dropping at the astonishingly human-like appearance and features of BINA48. Under the supervision of the great author and entrepreneur Martine Rothblatt, this sentient robot got released in the year 2010 by the Terasem Movement. With aid of the famous robotics researcher and designer David Hanson, BINA48 was given the spitting image of Bina Aspen Rothblatt, the better-half of Rothblatt. Besides appearing on a bunch of television shows, BINA48 has also given an interview to the New York Times, traveled all across the globe and appeared on the famous National Geographic channel.

Junko Chihiro –

Junko Chihiro, an extremely advanced android, invented by Toshiba is working as a full-time employee in a famous tourist information company in Tokyo. Not just she can greet the customers, but also inform the visitors on current affairs. The best part about Junko Chihiro is that it is a polyglot humanoid that can speak Chinese, Japanese, German, English, etc. It can even communicate in sign language.

Geminoid DK –

This ultra-advanced humanoid robot has resulted from the collaboration between Osaka University and a private Japanese firm. This phenomenal collaboration took place under Hiroshi Ishiguro’s (the director of s Intelligent Robotics Laboratory) supervision. Geminoid DK is said to be modeled after the world-famous Danish professor Mr. Henrik Scharfe at the Denmark based Aalborg University. Geminoid DK resembles professor Scharfe not just appearance-wise, but also behavioral and characteristic traits wise.

Nadine –

The humanoid of Nadine was invented by the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. This chirpy humanoid is gifted with an amazing quality of chatting about almost anything you would think of. She is even capable of memorizing everything that you have spoken to her about the next time you will strike a conversation. According to the scientists, Nadine is an ideal example of a great social robot that can become a very friendly companion of the humans.

Geminoid-F –

We bet that Geminoid-F is one of those few humanoids to hit the global headlines owing to her aesthetic prowess. Her lustrous tresses, coupled with a flawless ivory-skin and an amazing smile will certainly melt your heart instantly. Geminoid-F is deliberately produced to resemble the models. Her motions can be best synched to mimic that of a human being.

Jia-Jia –

A female robot called Jia-Jia can interact with one technician at the famous campus of the University of Science and Technology of China in the year of 2016. The entire team invested almost three years to create the robot, that can communicate, move its lips and body, and showcase micro-expressions.

Actroid Repliee –

Actroid Repliee is a doppelganger of a famous television newscaster. This humanoid robot can move its head, arms, and upper part of the body with a greater ease.

Wrapping up

Owing to the unprecedented advancement in science and technology, robotics has found their application in different areas including, intelligent security systems, industrial automation, space exploration, automotive industry, healthcare, defense services, etc. Sophia and these above-mentioned robots are bearing a vivid testimony to this statement. Hope that you had a great reading!