It’s difficult to define the concept of “waking nightmare,” but letting a company slap your face like a silicone flapjack on mass-produced robots that will be used in countless people’s homes sounds like a pretty good example of it. Although if, for some reason, that situation doesn’t seem like the most Twilight Zone-esque development ever, there is now a slim possibility of making it a reality. And it comes with a payment of about $129,000.
According to an October 11 blog post by Geomiq (via Popular Mechanics), the London-based, data-driven manufacturing platform is looking for a person who’s willing to offer up their face to be used for a “kind and friendly” one that will be applied to the head of a “state-of-the-art humanoid robot” it’s helping to build.
A robotics company is looking for a human to be the ‘face’ of their new robot — I have of course appliedhttps://t.co/oNsfkPVjyS
— Holly Brockwell (@holly) October 16, 2019
Geomiq’s blog post says, in essence, that it has been approached by a robotics company—which itself is being funded by “a number of independent VCs as well as a top fund based in Shanghai”—asking for help with the finishing touches on its latest humanoid ‘bot. (Which we’re guessing is not as cool as this one.) One of those finishing touches is apparently the robot’s face, and now Geomiq has taken to the internet to find somebody who can offer up their pleasant mug as its basis for design.
Although Geomiq only gives vague details regarding the utility function and specs for the line of robots thanks to the NDA it’s signed with the client company, it does note in its call for many faces that “the robots’ purpose will be to act as a ‘virtual friend’ for elderly people, and is set to go into production next year.”
Geomiq says that candidates “who make it through the next phase” will be provided with more details on the project, but that people who don’t make it won’t be contacted at all. Maybe one day the company will have a robot that can make those calls for it via video chat, face to face.
What do you think of licensing your face to a robotics company for roughly $129,000? Does that sound like a reasonable amount of money for your own precious countenance?! Let us know in the comments!
Feature image: A24
