Engineered Arts, the company behind the human-like Mesmer robot series, has unveiled a new creation that may weird you out even more. "Ameca" is a new humanoid robot that doesn't have realistic hair and skin like Mesmer, but can instead show more human-like, natural-looking expressions than others we've seen, as The Verge has reported. Ameca at first displays confusion as it appears to wake up, then shows mild astonishment when it moves its hands (the hand gestures looks fairly real, too). It then appears surprised to see the viewer or camera, and finishes the video with a smile and welcoming hand gesture. The improvements in facial animation look to be the result of more fluid movements than we've seen before.

Scientists have developed a robotic head that matches the expressions of nearby humans in real time, thanks to its pliable blue face. Called Eva, the autonomous bot uses deep learning, a form of artificial intelligence (AI), to'read' and then mirror the expressions on human faces, via a camera. Eva can express the six basic emotions – anger, disgust, fear, joy, sadness, and surprise, as well as an'array of more nuanced' reactions. Artificial'muscles' – cables and motors to be precise – pull on specific points on Eva's face, replicating muscles beneath our skin. The scientists, at Columbia University in New York, say human-like facial expressions on the faces of robots could build trust between humans and their robotic co-workers and care-givers.