Make the Acquaintance Of Humanoid Sophia, Created in the Image of Audrey Hepburn

Hanson Robotics unveils Sophia. Is she the robot of the future or is she just selling us the illusion of humanity?

Sophia is a robot with the potential to become the must-have fashionable accessory in the not too distant future. The new female humanoid robot was designed in the image of style icon Audrey Hepburn by former Disney Imagineer David Hanson.“Our quest through robots like Sophia is to build the full human experience into the robots, make robots that can really understand us and care about us,” Hanson told Business Insider in January 2017.

Hanson Robotics
Credit: Denis Balibouse/Reuters

Although she still needs some of her rough edges, such as her plastic skull, improved, Sophia’s pull is that she is one of a kind. As Hanson Robotics’ most advanced robot, Sophia’s objective is to mimic humans’ capacity for love, empathy, anger, jealousy, and the sense of being alive. “The idea of fooling humans is not necessarily the goal,” Hanson told Business Insider, “The goal is to help provide answers to the questions of what is life? What is intelligence? And what is consciousness?”

Robots
Credit: Graham Flanagan/Business Insider

Powered by a complex set of motors and gears, Sophia’s machinery is intriguing. Described by some as the most human-like robot ever, Sophia is capable of showing happiness (sort of), raising her eyebrows, frowning and bearing her humanoid teeth to show anger. Getting accustomed to Sophia might not be easy for some, but she does play a vital role in showing us the amazing advances that have been made in Artificial Intelligence (AI).

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The next step for Hanson Robotics is to unveil a humanoid family that will consist of Sophia and other robots. On this, Jeanne Lim, chief of marketing for Hanson Robotics, told Business Insider that the direction that they are headed in is supported by the fact that they believe that lifelike robots are the future. Hanson added, “The age of living androids is among us.” 

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Founding editor-in-chief of FashNerd.com, Muchaneta is currently one of the leading influencers writing about the merger of fashion with technology and wearable technology. She has also given talks at Premiere Vision, Munich Fabric Start and Pure London, to name a few. Besides working as a fashion innovation consultant for various fashion companies like LVMH Atelier, Muchaneta has also contributed to Vogue Business, is a senior contributor at The Interline and an associate lecturer at London College of Fashion, UAL.