The robot named ‘Boris’ featured at the Putin Youth Forum was just a man wearing an Alyosha the Robot costume from Show Robotics. (Image credit: Show Robotics)
The Russian state news agency Russia-24 was on hand reporting live at a Russian robotics forum for teens held several days ago, where companies highlight the latest in robotic hardware to get kids interested in the industry. One robot, dubbed Boris, captured the spotlight for its seemingly fantastic dancing skills and its ability to answer audience member’s questions.
Russia-24 praised Boris as ‘modern’ and ‘high-tech’ as it was going through its routine, however other journalists in the audience and others on social media became skeptical of the modern marvel and began questioning the robots legitimacy. It didn’t take long to figure out that Boris was merely a man wearing an Alyosha the Robot costume designed by Show Robotics.
According to an article from The Guardian, organizers for the Proyektoria Technology Forum knew the robot was just a costume, however, Russia-24 either didn’t realize the robot was a fake or decided to deceive viewers at home. Whatever the case may be, the news agency reported the robot as the genuine article, although to their credit, they did state that the robot was a fake a day later.
The Miss Honeywell robot was used to showcase products at an exhibition in 1968. (Image credit: Cyberneticzoo)
Humans playing robots isn’t a recent trend, it’s been happening for over a century with a few notables coming from the early to mid-twentieth century, including the infamous ‘Miss Honeywell’ robot from Honeywell Control LTD. The robot was showcased at the Electronics and Automatics Exhibition held in London in 1968. Clearly, the robot is just a woman in a costume, but a Honeywell spokesperson stated he “doesn’t know if it’s electronic, or mechanical, or human flesh.”
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