This man claims to have built a supersized mechanised robot

It's difficult to say how far science fiction has influenced decisions with regards to science grants

The giant robot is a trope of many genres from sci-fi to fantasy, dystopian, and steam punk.

Gulliver's Travels (2010), Avatar (2009), Pacific Rim (2013) - the list of giant anthropomorphic robots, controlled by a smaller guy inside, is of some size.

Now one man claims to have made a real life version.

METHOD-2 is a four metres tall robot, supposedly created by Korean tech company Hankook Mirae Technology.

The concept was designed by Vitaly Bulgarov, who posted this video of METHOD-2 to his Facebook:

Some people, however, have been sceptical about METHOD-2, given that Hankook Mirae is a new company which appears to only have ever employed Bulgarov.

In an attempt to counter theories that METHOD-2 was a hoax created to become a viral video, Bulgarov told Live Science:

If you look at this from a Western point of view, then yeah, that might seem strange, but in that part of the world, the culture is a little different.

The company wants to make something first before they advertise themselves.

He also posted this video, showing METHOD-2's less than glamorous first steps.

The video shows it is very much still a prototype, with planned alterations due to the amount METHOD-2 vibrates.

Yet Live Science had further doubts.

All material relating to METHOD-2 appears to stem from Bulgarov's Facebook page.

On December 22, Bulgarov claimed that a website for Hankook Mirae was due to go online within a week.

No such site has appeared. The most prominent search result for the company is a subsection of Bulgarov's website.

So is this just a Hollywood fantasy?

Moreover, his art portfolio website refers to:

fictional robotics corporation that develops its products in a not-so-distant future.

Fictional seems to be the key word here.

Bulgarov is credited on IMDb as a member of the art departments on the sci-fi films Transformers: Age of Extinction (20XX) and RoboCop (20XX).

No prizes for guesing what kind of robots he was designing for these two features.

Live Science also pointed out that better bi-pedal technology exists, than is used by METHOD-2.

Bulgarov previously worked for Boston Dynamics, who created this "dog" robot:

We can all agree this looks cool, and we definitely want one.

HT IFL Science and Live Science

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