A realistic humanoid robot, reportedly the “world’s first bipedal, musculoskeletal android” suddenly came to life in a now viral video that onlookers have claimed is “terrifying” and “dystopian.”
According to the New York Post, the robot, called “Protoclone” was created by Clone Robotics, and was made with a body that closely resembles human beings, including muscles, tendons, joints, and a skeleton.
According to the company, the Protoclone is able to walk, talk, and complete chores, with the company using the tagline “Do it yourself once. Clone will do it forever.”
The robot will be available for preorder this year and would be able to memorize the layout of a person’s home and kitchen inventory. It can also wash dishes, make sandwiches and pour drinks, retrieve item, vacuum, clean, and shake hands.
The robot features 206 bones made from durable polymers, closely mimicking the human skeleton, joints, ligaments, and connective tissues. Its artificial muscles are myofibers, and its nervous system includes sensors and four depth cameras. The robot’s vascular system pumps water via a hydraulic powering system instead of blood.
The android, with a soft exterior, is praised for its “biomorphic design” and is compared to Tesla’s Optimus robot, which Elon Musk claims can perform daily tasks and serve various roles, such as babysitter, dog walker, or bartender.
In a video posted to X, the Protoclone is suspended from a ceiling and begins to twitch and move its arms and legs which has now been seen over 32 million times.
Watch the video below:
X users were unimpressed.
“Don’t call it a human ever again. These are not lines we want to blur,” one user wrote.
“And it’s a giant, useless, impractical waste for whoever paid for it, unless they figure internet clicks are a great payoff,” another wrote.
“It’s not the flex you think it is, just because you can build something doesn’t mean you should one of the geniuses in your lab will mess this up,” another wrote.
