New robot can wear any face

Get ready for the Kardashian-bot: Robo-torso that can 'wear' any face, lipsync perfectly and even follow you around the room with its eyes revealed

• Any face can be projected onto the $24,000 robo-head
• Eyes can be programmed to follow people round the room
• Software can also sense the emotion of the person being talked to

A disembodied robot torso showing your colleagues face may at first seem a terrifying proposition, but researchers say this 'social robot' could actually be far more effective than traditional videoconferencing.

It can be preloaded with standard faces or take on a colleagues, while sensors in the torso can track people in a room, and even work out their emotions.

The $24,000 SociBot can even display famous faces, its makers claim - and can lip sync to their voice perfectly.

'Socibot uses projective head technology, which we have now combined with a sophisticated mesh mapping algorithm, meaning your robot can have any face you desire - even your own,' the British firm behind the robot says.

'Expressions and features are easy to modify and control. 

'With voice recognition, facial tracking, lip-syncing, and speech synthesis in more than twenty languages, anyone can converse freely with our chattiest robot'

SociBot was originally designed for shopping centres, theme parks, airports, tourist information centres, science centers, and anywhere requiring personalised content delivered with a human touch. 

However, its  makers say it could also find a place in homes and offices.

'It also makes an ideal telepresence device, its human-like expressiveness conveying even subtle mood and tone while the fully integrated sensory array makes you feel like you're in the room, no matter the distance,' they say.

The face is created by an internal Pico LED projector. 

This projector allows it to create different articulate the types of facial expressions for different situations.

Socibot and Socibot-Mini can also track the position of more than 12 people at a time, even in a crowd. 

They can also detect gestures like hand waves and body poses. 

The internal head projector can map any face onto any mould – allowing different facial features to be added.

How it works: The Socibot contains a full computer, and uses a camera in its head to track users.

'To be social you need to be expressive,' Engineered Arts, the firm behind the project, says.

'The eyes are the windows to the soul, and every face paints a picture. 

'Fully integrated LED pico projection technology with custom developed optics means that SociBot's face is dynamic, easily-customisable and versatile.'

'Expressions transform SociBot's face to suit his mood, or reflect the expressions of people looking at him.'