If Disney’s Hall of Presidents upset you, if Chuck E. Cheese and his friends frighten you, if the TV show Dinosaurs gave you nightmares – don’t read this post! Hanson Robotics is in the business of creating life-like animatronic faces and they’ve gotten disturbingly real. Complex emotions play across the visages of these robotic replicants and if you’re not careful you’ll soon buy into their reality. Check out the videos of Hanson’s creations after the break.

Dr. David Franklin Hanson, Jr , the founder of Hanson Robotics, owes much of his success to Frubber. Frubber is a revolutionary material with a porous structure that allows it to move similarly to human tissue. Previously used materials were too heavy and too stiff. Using Frubber, Hanson can create a wide range of realistic facial expressions while cutting the need for powerful actuators. Typical applications using Frubber consume more than 20 times less power than with traditional materials. A realistic face and neck can run for hours using just a few AA batteries.

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