Man Builds Scarily Realistic ‘Scarlet Johansson’ Humanoid Robot [Video]


Hong Kong resident Ricky Ma has dreamed of designing a humanoid robot since he was a child, as he is obsessed with animation and robots. He has now realized his dream by building a realistic female humanoid robot bearing a striking resemblance to Avengers actress Scarlett Johansson.

Ma told Reuters, “When I was a child, I liked robots. Why? Because I liked watching animation. All children loved it. There were Transformers, cartoons about robots fighting each other and games about robots.”

He went on to say that after he grew up, he wanted to make one. However, during the process of doing just that, a lot of people said things like, “Are you stupid? This takes a lot of money. Do you even know how to do it? It’s really hard.”

On top of loving animation and robots, it seems Ma is also a fan of Scarlett. Johansson turned out to be the unofficial model for his first humanoid robot experiment.

Ma, 42, works as a product and graphic designer, but in his spare time, he has spent over $50,000 and a year and a half of his time creating the female robot prototype, dubbed Mark 1.

Reportedly, while he named the robot Mark 1, Ma confirmed he had styled his creation on the Hollywood actress, Scarlett Johansson, but said he wanted to keep her name under wraps.

Besides looking remarkably like the Avengers star, the humanoid robot responds to a set of programmed verbal commands spoken into a microphone. The robot also has the appropriate animated facial expressions and can move its arms and legs, features Ma said weren’t easy to create.

In the video above, Ma can be seen telling the robot, “Mark 1, you are so beautiful.” The robot then responds by bowing, and the “muscles” around the eyes relax as the corners of its lips lift to form a smile. The Scarlett Johansson lookalike then replies to the compliment saying, “He he, thank you.”

According to a report by the Mirror, Mark 1’s silicone skin covers a 3D-printed skeleton, which encompasses the humanoid robot’s mechanical and electronic interior mechanisms. Reportedly, around 70 percent of the robot’s body was created using 3D printing technology.

Ma admitted using a trial-and-error methodology when creating the robot, saying he encountered obstacles, including everything from burned out motors to Mark 1 losing its balance.

It wasn’t an easy task, as when he started, he also realized the project would involve “dynamics, electromechanics and programming. I have never studied programming, how was I supposed to code?”

Ma added that he also needed to build 3D models for all the interior parts of the robot, and he had to ensure the external silicone skin and the internal parts could all fit together.

With all that work behind him and Mark 1 standing next to him, Ma says he has no regrets.

“I figured I should just do it when the timing is right and realize my dream. If I realize my dream, I will have no regrets in life.”

Of course, the whole project wasn’t just for the fun of creating a robot that looks so incredibly like Scarlett Johansson. Ma believes the importance of robots will continue to grow, and he hopes an investor will buy his prototype, thus giving him the capital he needs to build more. He says he would also like to write a book about the process to help other robot enthusiasts in their efforts.

[Image via ITV News video]

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