The new work was developed by researchers at Walt Disney Imagineering, robotics specialists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and scientists at the California Institute of Technology. The new robot can mimic human facial expressions, in particular blinking eyes and light head movements.

A sensor hidden in the chest area warns the robot when it needs to turn to face the person in front of it. After direct eye contact, his eyes begin to reproduce saccades – involuntary rapid eye movements characteristic of a person in a certain rhythm. The robot also moves slightly up and down to simulate breathing.

Apparently, Disney will soon be able to use this technology for animatronic characters in its theme parks. It is known that the research department of the company has been working on creating more realistic robots for quite some time. In 2018, the company introduced the Stickman, a robot capable of doing backflips in the air, which roughly matches the height of a “stunt man with arms raised above his head.”

All that was left for Disney specialists to do was to add something similar to skin to the new robot. Otherwise, in its current form, it will only scare the guests of Disneyland.