Double take! Hong Kong-based inventor and designer Ricky Ma created a lifelike robot that looks eerily identical to Scarlett Johansson.
To make the Her actress’ robotic doppelgänger, the 42-year-old designer spent nearly $50,000 all told. Ma has named his creation Mark 1, which he says he modeled after a certain unnamed Hollywood star.
“When I started building it, I realized it would involve dynamics, electromechanics, and programming,” Ma told Reuters in an interview published last Friday, April 1. “I have never studied programming, how was I supposed to code?”
“Additionally, I needed to build 3D models for all the parts inside the robot,” he added. “Also, I had to make sure the robot’s external skin and its internal parts could fit together. When you look at everything together, it was really difficult.”
However, Ma’s hard work has paid off. His Johansson android is capable of moving her limbs, changing her facial expressions and she can even engage in conversation when spoken to through a microphone.
According to Reuters, when Mark 1 is told she is “so beautiful,” she responds by giving a slight smile and saying, “Hehe, thank you.” The outlet then goes on to explain that 70 percent of Robo ScarJo’s body was crafted using 3D-printing technology. Her mechanical skeleton lies beneath skin made out of silicone.
For Ma, who “had to learn about fields completely new to him to develop” Mark 1, his final product is a major achievement. “I figured I should just do it when the timing is right and realize my dream,” he told Reuters. “If I realize my dream, I will have no regrets in life.”
