(ORDO NEWS) — In 2019, the London-based startup Geomiq took up the search for a face for the robot. The company was not averse to acquiring friendly faces, for the rights to which it was ready to pay an incredible amount. Why and with what money do robot manufacturing companies buy the rights to our faces?
Finding a face for a robot in England
In 2019, London-based engineering company Geomiq announced that it was looking for the perfect face on behalf of one of its clients, for the rights to which it is ready to pay generously.
The face was necessary for the robot, which should become a friend for the elderly. The transaction price is exactly 100 thousand pounds sterling, or about 8,189,900 rubles at that rate, for the transfer of life rights.
“We were approached by a robotics company who asked if we could help them with the finishing touches of the state-of-the-art humanoid robot they are working on,” says the Geomiq blog.
The company is looking for a “kind and friendly” face to become the face of the robot. Thousands of robots around the world will receive it.”
The development of such robots and the search for faces for them is not new. There are many such projects, and a special face is always selected for them, in the expression of which there is not even a hint of a threat, with a wide open smile.
For example, the CARESSES project, which involves building robots to support the elderly, is trying to figure out how to make a robot that will adapt to different cultures and customs, depending on who it has to support.
An important point in Geomiq’s proposal was that your face, if purchased, would appear in thousands of homes and carriers would help people. Geomiq’s post didn’t say what they think “friendly” means, or how much the face should be, given the fact that it will be strung over a clumsy metal structure.
It is possible that once you sell your face to such mysterious companies, third parties will gain access to it. And where is the guarantee that the face of the lucky person chosen for the robot, and the faces of many less fortunate contenders for 100 thousand pounds sterling, will not suddenly appear on RealDolls, with which you yourself guess what they are doing?
The US is also looking for new faces for robots
In the American company Promobot in 2021, they also asked themselves the question of finding faces for robots. They have been developing a humanoid robot that would be used in hotels, shopping malls and airports from 2023.
The New York-based company was already known for its realistic humanoid robots with completely human faces, many of which are already in use in 43 countries around the world.
“Electronic people” perform various functions, including the duties of administrators, consultants, promoters, guides and concierges. The manufacturer was offering $200,000 to a volunteer willing to sell the rights to use his face to make robots for an unlimited period of time.
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