Kate Plummer
Nov 29, 2021
A tech company is offering £150,000 to people who are willing to hand over the rights to their face and voice to a robot.
Promobot is making new hyper realistic robots, and they want to base them off real people to look extra lifelike.
The company said it is looking for a “kind and friendly” appearance, and they are seeking applications from any race or gender just as long as they are over 25.
It said on its website: “Our company is developing technologies in the field of facial recognition, as well speech, autonomous navigation, artificial intelligence and other areas of robotics.
“Since 2019, we have been actively manufacturing and supplying humanoid robots to the market.
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“Our new clients want to launch a large-scale project, and as for this, they need to license a new robot appearance to avoid legal delays.”
Whoever succeeds in the application process won’t just have to take a few selfies - they will instead have to take a 3D model of their face and body for the robot’s external features. Then they will have to dictate at least 100 hours of speech material to copy the voice which will then be used by the machine to communicate with customers.
They also have to “sign a license agreement” that allows “the use of your appearance for an unlimited period”.
Promobot already uses robots in 43 countries, working in roles including administrators, promoters, consultants, guides and concierges.
They are hoping to launch their new human robots in hotels, shopping centres and airports in North America and the Middle East from 2023.
How very Black Mirror.
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