From the world of robotic doppelgangers come the 6-legged Stelarc Walking Head, capable of moving autonomously using a library of pre-defined movement orders based on different circumstances like its current position, nature of the trigger (i.e. a person entering the room) and any obstructions. Besides this gee-whiz capability however, lies a somewhat more disturbing feature, a rendered human head that pops up on its upright-mounted LCD panel once it detects a human (or even not) presence with its ultrasound sensors.

The robot is 2 meters in diameter and has a footprint of nearly 4 meters. Aluminum, stainless steel, acrylic and pneumatic actuators make up the bulk of its structure, with the LCD run by a small PC as the centerpiece. The robot is still a work in progress, with additional research being done into possible control schemes.

While we’ve already seen a couple of robots and mechanical contraptions on this site, it’s fair to say that this is the first real combination of the two disparate techs, as the Stelarc “Walking Head robot” will eventually be able to sync its movements to the actions of the virtual head on its LCD. Basically, you can imagine it having a pained expression if it trips or falls down (heh). Perhaps more believably, it will react with its facial expressions when an edge or an obstruction comes up. This will make for a more realistic (and creepy) rendition of a robot, especially considering it has a floating head for a centerpiece.