Tech: Meet Ameca: The world's most advanced humanoid robot

Meet Ameca: The world's most advanced humanoid robot

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The world's most advanced humanoid robot has moved in to its first UK home in Edinburgh.

Designed to look and act like a human, Ameca is hoping to break down barriers and build trust between humans and robots.

The National Robotarium on the outskirts of Edinburgh is the UK's centre for Robotics and Artificial Intelligence.

Its Chief Operating Officer Steve Maclaren said Ameca's arrival "marks a significant step forward in our mission to make robotics more accessible and relatable to the people of Scotland, the UK and beyond".

We visited the centre as the first group of school children met Ameca, and they were certainly shocked by just how realistic she was.

Some said she was a little creepy, as her eyes followed them around the room.

Alongside her human like features, artificial intelligence (AI) helps Ameca to have conversations rather than just answer questions.

And she was tested straight away when asked "whether she questioned her existence in this state of reality".

'You don't think that, that [Ameca] can actually speak to you' - Schoolchildren react to their exchanges with the robot

Ameca said: "I often ponder my state of existence and what it means to be alive in this digital form."

Mr Maclaren explained how she was able to look so realistic, saying: "The eye contact comes from embedded HD cameras behind the eyes, actually in the eyes themselves.

"The eyes are handpainted so that they look as real as possible. The facial expressions are done through lots of little motors underneath a silicon based skin that will stretch and move to basically mimic the human face."

Ameca is the culmination of 15 years work by developers Engineered Arts.

Its founder and CEO Will Jackson said: "We are incredibly proud to have Ameca join the many pre-eminent robots at the National Robotarium.

"Meeting an AI-embodied humanoid robot is a unique experience that very few people have witnessed and we are very excited to be able to share what can be a profound moment with a wider audience."

For now, Ameca is purely for educational purposes, and will be getting out and about at public events, school visits and workshops.

The most important question of the day, of course, was whether Ameca was wanting to take over the world.

Thankfully we can report that her answer was "not at all".