A new walking, talking robot from Japan has a female face that can smile and has slimmed down to appear at a fashion show.
But it hasn't even cleared safety standards to share the catwalk with human models.
Developers said their "cybernetic human" wasn't ready to help with daily chores or work side by side with people.
"Technologically, it hasn't reached that level," said Hirohisa Hirukawa, one of the robot's developers at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. "Even as a fashion model, people in the industry told us she was short and had a rather ordinary figure."
The black-haired robot is more than 60 inches tall and weighs 95 pounds. Code-named HRP-4C, the robot's predecessor had weighed 128 pounds.
Developers said the robot may be used in amusement parks, events to attract attention and simulations of human movement such as exercise instructor.
HRP-4C was designed to look like an average Japanese woman, although its silver-and-black body makes it appear to be wearing a space-suit. It will appear in a Tokyo fashion show, although without any clothes, in a special section just for the robot next week.
Japan boasts one of the leading robotics industries in the world, and the government is pushing to develop the industry as a road to growth. Honda has developed Asimo, which can walk and talk, although it doesn't pretend to look human.
Other robots, like the ones from Hiroshi Kobayashi at the Tokyo University of Science and Hiroshi Ishiguro at Osaka University, have more human-like faces and have been tested as receptionists.
But demands are growing for socially useful robots, such as those for caring for the elderly and the sick, said Yoshihiro Kaga, a government official in the trade and industry ministry.
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