In a bizarre turn of events, state-run Russian news channel Russia-24 mistook a man in a robot suit for an advanced robot capable of dancing, claiming that "Robot Boris has already learned to dance and he's not that bad." Russian website TJournal debunked Russia-24's claims, citing "unecessary movements" while the robot danced. Their suspicions were confirmed later on, when photos of a guy actually inside of the robot emerged online.
The robot suit, which Russia-24 mistakeningly called Boris, was actually 'Alyosha the Robot,' a costume manufactured by a company called Show Robots, as The Guardian reports.
The costume, which cost approximately $3800 to produce, came with a microphone and tablet display installed, intending to create the illusion of a real robot. Show Robots and the organizers of the Proyektoria technology forum, where the suit was on display, claim they never attempted to fool anyone into thinking it was a real robot, however.
“It’s entirely possible one of these [students] could dedicate himself to robotics,” the anchor on Russia-24 reported. “Especially as at the forum they have the opportunity to look at the most modern robots.” The suit's microphone likely had something to do with fooling people, as when spoken into it changes the voice into something a lot more robotic.
When the suit was presented on stage at the forum, the person in the suit said, "I know mathematics well but I also want to learn to draw."
