A publicity stunt featuring a girl impersonating an android was apparently so real it duped thousands into believing she was a genuine robot.
The female ‘machine’ acted out the slow, stiff movements of a cyborg-like creature in a performance to promote an upcoming PlayStation 4 game at the Tokyo Game Show.
She opened her street-mime type entertainment piece with a rigid wave then smiled to show the life-like qualities that can be expected from the character in the game she was copying.
The spectacle was organised by French firm Quantic Dream, the makers of ‘Detroit: Become Human’, who were promoting how real-looking their AP700 android models are that appear in the game, which will be released next year.
A shared video of the short performance pulled in some three millions views on one social media platform. And it sparked a fierce debate over whether the girl was robot or human.
One poll found that nearly a fifth of viewers believed she was genuinely a cyborg, with the bulk (81%) saying they were not fooled. Many on social media were also undecided.
Stan Yee was so impressed by the convincing act, he tweeted: “Human or robot?
Greg Pennington appeared to be duped too, and posted: “I can hardly wait to get one of these!”
But others were sure the "android" was merely a human performing the role.
On one website forum, a user called Libby wrote: “Too many minor flaws to be a robot like different sized nostrils.”
Another posted: “It's definitely not a robot! Pupils move jerkily! Only human eyes work so! Many of the movements are irrational for the robot!”
The game revolves around the android Kara, who breaks out of a factory where she was made and battles against the servitude of robots under humans.
Alia Chikhdene, a community manager with Quantic Dream, confirmed to The Independent: “This is a Cyberlife creation impersonated by a real human being.”
The company’s "android" demonstration came after a similar stunt at a tech conference in Las Vegas in January.
Video director Karen X Cheng performed a robot act that left some onlookers believing she was really a machine.
She told the MailOnline: “Honestly I wasn't sure if we would be able to fool anyone, but we managed to convince a few people!”
