Every company designing robots today is focused on getting the functional aspects correct, and few are paying attention to the creepiness factor. Disney Research, however, is focusing on an element of robot design that the others miss: How to make those robots palatable to human interactees, using storytelling techniques.

In this regard, Disney has a killer advantage over robot-building tech companies: They have a deep expertise in storytelling, as well as an army of artists and puppeteers to draw on. They have applied those things to the creation of this bipedal robot. It's not enough for them to just get the robot to walk (which they do), but they have the additional task of getting an audience to emotionally connect with the robot.

To achieve that, they've carefully designed it to move in an expressive way. In addition to possessing the actuators required for basic locomotion, the robot "also has a set of 'show' functions: Speakers, actuated antennas, illuminated eyes and a headlamp. These 'show' functions and audio are controlled elements of the robot that do not affect the dynamics of the system, but play a key role in expressing character."

"The complete system results in a believable robotic character, and paves the way for enhanced human-robot engagement in various contexts, in entertainment robotics and beyond."

It's impossible to illustrate in still photos, or even in GIFs, just how much they've nailed this. In the case study video below, you can see how they've combined motion, gesture, sound and light to truly give this robot the semblance of a personality:

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