Humanoid robots have been around for a while now, and even though Chinese companies in particular have been making immense progress in regards to human-like movements, balance, and speed of motion, when it comes to appearance, we have yet to see any spectacular developments. Now, a Chinese startup is trying to change that with an obscenely expensive and eerily realistic humanoid robot head.
AheadForm, a startup founded in 2024 by Yuhang Hu, an engineer who trained at Columbia University’s renowned Creative Machines Lab in New York, with the stated goal to “break down the barrier” between human and machine, recently unveiled its latest creation, a robot head capable of reproducing human movements and expressions.
The Origin M1 robotic head is designed to replicate human micro-expressions, including furrowed eyebrows, slight smiles, blinking and eye movements. In a video that has been doing the rounds on Chinese social media, the motor-powered head can be seen executing a range of very human-like movements that have been creeping some people out.
Underneath the silicone interior, the Origin M1 is powered by 25 to 42 brushless micro-motors that contract and release every artificial muscle to reproduce human expressions. These tiny, ultra-quiet motors have been described as marvels of precision mechanics. The realistic head also features cameras concealed in its pupils, allowing it to scan the environment and track objects, as well as microphones and speakers that enable voice-interaction.
Because of the cutting-edge technology used to create it, the Origin M1 robotic head is extremely expensive, with the most advanced version priced arround $150,000. That’s a lot for what is essentially a robotic prop that you can only place on your desk to marvel at, for now.
The future looks promising for ultra-realistic humanoid robots, as AheadForm aims to improve the Origin M1 in the near future. The Chinese company is already working on lip synching, and hopes to soon connect its robots to large language models so that they understand not only what you say, but also how you say it, and respond with the right tone and facial expression.
