Russia’s Humanoid Robot AIdol Falls on Its Face During a Dramatic Stage Reveal
Russia unveiled a humanoid robot, dubbed AIdol, during a flashy showcase in Moscow — only for it to fall on its face, both figuratively and literally. Footage of the event, which went viral this week, shows the bipedal robot stumbling onto the stage, taking small and hesitant steps as it attempted to keep itself upright.
In This Article:
- The Fall on Stage: AIdol Slips and Flails
- Curtain Call Gone Wrong: Organizers Try to Hide the Aftermath
- Staged Disaster or Real Debut? The Question That Hangs Over AIdol
- Evidence of the Event: Where and How It Happened
- Astra’s Telegram Post and the Invasion Question
- Russia’s Tech Lag and the China Benchmark
- Not a Masterpiece: AIdol’s Reception Online
- More on Humanoid Robots
- Author Bio
The Fall on Stage: AIdol Slips and Flails
But the bot soon succumbed to the forces of gravity, eerily reminiscent of a person who had too much to drink, falling flat on its face and thrashing around — and to the iconic soundtrack of the 1976 sports epic “Rocky,” no less.
Curtain Call Gone Wrong: Organizers Try to Hide the Aftermath
The embarrassment didn’t end there, as organizers tried to pull a black sheet across the stage in an apparent attempt to stop the audience from watching the inert robot body being dragged out of sight.
Staged Disaster or Real Debut? The Question That Hangs Over AIdol
The whole thing feels like such a perfectly planned out disaster that it raises the possibility that it was a staged performance, as Kotaku points out, meant to ridicule our ongoing obsession with humanoid robots.
Evidence of the Event: Where and How It Happened
There are reasons to believe the unintentionally comedic showing wasn’t a bit, though. The event took place at the Yarovit Hall Congress Center in Moscow on Tuesday, and photos shared by the Moscow City News Agency show a limbless version of the robot posing for pictures with eventgoers. The video footage was also shared by the BBC and The Telegraph, among other outlets.
Astra’s Telegram Post and the Invasion Question
Independent Russian news publication Astra also covered the event, as seen in a post on Telegram, which was picked up by the Ukrainian National News agency. However, we can’t shake the feeling that the video may have been some kind of stunt. Astra publicly condemns Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — so is there any chance the video may have been fabricated to ridicule Russia’s flagging tech sector on the global stage?
Russia’s Tech Lag and the China Benchmark
If the video is indeed an honest attempt at showcasing a product, then it goes to show how much catching up Russia still has to do compared to its international rivals. China, in particular, has made massive strides, building commercially viable and relatively affordable bipedal robots that can kickbox and make realistic facial expressions. Some demos have been so convincing that observers suspected — wrongly — that the robot was a person in a suit (something that Elon Musk’s Tesla has previously attempted).
Not a Masterpiece: AIdol’s Reception Online
The same can’t be said about AIdol. “He looks like he’s been on the Vodka,” quipped one online observer. “Most Russian robot ever.”
More on Humanoid Robots
More on humanoid robots: Robotics Company Builds Straight-Up Terminator
Author Bio
I’m a senior editor at Futurism, where I edit and write about NASA and the private space sector, as well as topics ranging from SETI and artificial intelligence to tech and medical policy.
