Kraftwerk hid behind their robots, but increasingly the robots themselves are the stars. It started with big dog, the military robot that looked like two half-dogs stuck together, acquiring 10m hits on YouTube due to its disturbingly life-like movements. Big dog is an unusual case of Western robot celebrity – the vast bulk come from Japan. There are the expected cute robots, the less expected violinist robots, and then the incredibly creepy robots, which have been trying too hard to look human and fallen deep into the uncanny valley. The US has put up a good fight with the slightly pedestrian facial expressions robot, but for sheer WTF-ness Japan was always going to win out with the impressive pen-spinning, dribbling and ball-throwing robot hands and the very well-dressed Aiko, who has Santa, Sexy Nurse and Victorian nymphet outfits, among others.

Thanks to Natalie Graeme, Rob Hughes and Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Image Credit:
Habos Torta Tu

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