Photo: tjournal.ru
You may have heard that Russia’s most advanced robot is a humanoid called Boris, which was unveiled just recently at the youth science forum PROJECT, which took place in Yaroslavl, near Moscow.
You can see footage of Boris in the tweet embedded at the bottom of the page. Russia24, the state-run news network tried to pass Boris as the country’s most advanced robot when, in reality, it’s not advanced at all. Or a robot.
The Guardian reports that Russia24 praised Boris as the kind of project all young scientists participating at the forum could aspire to create one day. In no misleading language, the network praised Boris for its ability to do math, draw and dance, while also being able to interact with humans.
As it turns out, Boris is not even a robot. The truth came out after footage of Boris in action made its way on social media, and people started wondering about how the government had managed to keep such an awesome project a secret until its final stage, The Guardian reports.
Other inaccuracies added up: Boris’ head didn’t include any sensors, only blinking lights; Boris’ voice could be heard on the speakers, yet there was no microphone attached to it; Boris’ dance moved looked less robotic and more like one man’s idea of robot-like dancing; Boris was incredibly chunky for the kind of advanced technology it boasted. Last but not least: when Boris turned around, you could see the outline of a person’s neck inside.
“Boris turned out to be an ‘Alyosha the Robot’ costume made by a company called Show Robots,” The Guardian says. “The £3,000 costume, equipped with microphone and tablet display, creates the ‘near total illusion that before you stands a real robot’.”
Organizers of the tech forum posted photos of a man in one such suit right before Boris appeared on the stage, but they deny ever implying that the robot was legit. Neither Russia24 or other local media outlets claiming the contrary is yet to backtrack on the original story. How’s that for Fake News?
The Guardian reports that Russia24 praised Boris as the kind of project all young scientists participating at the forum could aspire to create one day. In no misleading language, the network praised Boris for its ability to do math, draw and dance, while also being able to interact with humans.
As it turns out, Boris is not even a robot. The truth came out after footage of Boris in action made its way on social media, and people started wondering about how the government had managed to keep such an awesome project a secret until its final stage, The Guardian reports.
Other inaccuracies added up: Boris’ head didn’t include any sensors, only blinking lights; Boris’ voice could be heard on the speakers, yet there was no microphone attached to it; Boris’ dance moved looked less robotic and more like one man’s idea of robot-like dancing; Boris was incredibly chunky for the kind of advanced technology it boasted. Last but not least: when Boris turned around, you could see the outline of a person’s neck inside.
“Boris turned out to be an ‘Alyosha the Robot’ costume made by a company called Show Robots,” The Guardian says. “The £3,000 costume, equipped with microphone and tablet display, creates the ‘near total illusion that before you stands a real robot’.”
Organizers of the tech forum posted photos of a man in one such suit right before Boris appeared on the stage, but they deny ever implying that the robot was legit. Neither Russia24 or other local media outlets claiming the contrary is yet to backtrack on the original story. How’s that for Fake News?
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