Bipedal robots (at least some of them) are becoming increasingly agile and humanlike in their movements. Despite this, one physical aspect remains stuck in the uncanny valley--realistic facial expressions. One solution, however, may be found by treating expressions as an interplay between various "waveforms." The result is a new "dynamic arousal expression" system developed by researchers at Osaka University that allows a bot to mimic expressions more quickly and seamlessly than its predecessors. The potential solution, detailed in a study published in the Journal of Robotics and Mechatronics, requires first classifying various facial gestures like yawning, blinking, and breathing as individual waveforms.

An eerie robot with the face of a small child can make realistic-looking facial expressions. Creepy footage shows Affetto, an android with just a head and no body mimic human expressions like smiling and frowning. The robot was made by researchers from Osaka University in Japan who say it could open the door for androids to have'deeper interactions with humans'. Affetto, who has flesh-coloured skin on its face, can mimic a range of human expressions with incredible accuracy. An eerie robot with the face of a small child can make realistic-looking facial expressions.