Ever since he was a little boy, Ricky Ma, a graphics and product designer from Hong Kong, had a vision and dream of one day building his own functional robot. Recently Ma, 42, realized his dream with the completion of his robot that he built over the course of 18 months out on his balcony and at the cost of over $50,000.
Ma calls his creation the Mark 1 but, upon closer examination, his creation looks exactly like the movie star, Scarlett Johansson. While Ma has admitted that he created the likeness along the lines of a famous actress, he will not actually reveal who the actress might be. The female robot prototype, as he refers to it, can execute any commands that he gives by way of him speaking through a microphone.
The robot has silicon skin and much of the skeleton and features were built using a 3D printer. Not only does the bot respond to verbal commands but she has an extensive array of frighteningly realistic facial expressions and she can speak. She has complete movement of her arms and legs and can even perform a bow. And, of course, the dazzling hazel eyes and flowing blonde locks. Ma knew that building his robot was not going to be easy and he knew that many people would think of him as crazy.
“When I was a child,” Ma said, “I liked robots. “After I grew up I wanted to make one. But, during this process, a lot of people would say things like ‘Are you stupid? This takes a lot of money. Do you even know how to do it?'”
Things did not always go smoothly for Ma as he ran into challenges such as the robot continually losing her balance and falling down as well as burning out motors. As of now, Ma hopes an investor or a company will buy his robot so that he can proceed to make more of them. He believes the importance of robots is only going to grow well into the future. He also looks to write a book about the whole experience in the hope of inspiring others who have always dreamed of building a real and functioning robot.
PHOTO SOURCE: Reuters