China-based WMDOLL, which manufactures AI-powered sex dolls capable of moving and talking without human involvement, has embarked on an extraordinarily ambitious project to build the first ever android with impeccable cognition and full body activity.
WMDOLL's AI dolls, first launched in 2016, are known to be customized in terms of height, breast size, eye color and skin tone, but as Liu Ding, the company's product manager noted, more robotic advancements still have to be introduced to attract a greater number of customers. For the time being, the US market, where half of the company’s production is sold, is the most lucrative, with the price tag per item ranging from $1,600 to $7,370.
"Of course we're not expecting to make our AI dolls that human-like, after all we're just making adult products," Ding told Reuters, adding that whatever the case, they find it important to make the limbs move naturally.
There is yet another company set to develop and mass produce a full body movement doll – that is DS Doll. The company released a video in May showcasing the first prototype of this kind – a sex robot, whose limbs move autonomously, whereby the Chinese firms aim to challenge US and European manufacturers.
Sex doll production has taken the Chinese economy by storm in recent years, with local firms enthusiastically making artificial intelligence and robotics breakthroughs. Some firms cater not only to the sensual needs of their customers, but have further expanded their activity: for instance one of the top sex robot manufacturers Atall Intelligent Robot Technology from Shenzhen has recently shifted its attention to vulnerable social groups and taken over the job of providing AI companions to China’s ageing population.
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