Child-sized doll shakes and cries at CES tech show

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Child-sized doll shakes and cries at CES tech show

LAS VEGAS: A lifelike, child-size doll writhed and cried before slightly shocked onlookers snapping phone pictures on Wednesday at the CES tech show, where the line between cool and slightly disturbing robots can be thin.

Marcelo Humerez, an exhibitor from Peru who happened upon the Pedia-Roid, designed for medical training, said the eyes were very scary.

A humanoid named Ameca got a decidedly different reception when it chatted with a curious crowd that marveled at its ability to make a range of stunningly person-like gestures, as it chatted with a curious crowd.

Whoa, robot! Ricky Rivera, an exhibitor with Canada-based tech company Geotab, said I didn't expect that when I turned the corner. It's amazing and tracked me right away. Both reactions were exactly what the makers had been aiming for.

Morgan Roe, of Britain-based Engineered Arts, said the firm created software and technology to make Ameca person-like - though there are limits to how realistic it can be.

"We've designed Ameca to be as human-like as possible in the movement," he told AFP while standing next to the robot, whose gray face moved and blinked as he spoke.

He said that humans are so complex that it is almost impossible to make a robot exactly like a human. If we did that, you wouldn't be afraid of it because you would just assume it was a human.