A raft of new AI robotics start-ups are offering behind-the-scenes previews of their latest creations. China is leading the way in AI-powered robotic technology, from humanoids to virtually every kind of robotic system imaginable. AheadForm is the latest company to showcase its newest project: the Origin F1 humanoid robot, featuring a near lifelike human face complete with facial movements.

At the moment, it looks more like a manga-inspired version of a human face, but we’ll have to wait and see just how realistic it appears when it is fully unveiled.

There are 43 muscles in the human face that control our expressions, so to achieve true lifelike realism, the team at AheadForm would need to engineer 43 mechanical actuators capable of mimicking those muscles.

That alone is a major engineering challenge, so it’s likely that Origin F1 will have somewhat limited facial expressions — after all, it is still a robot.

Origin F1 is likely to serve more as an AI demonstrator than a complete replication of a human being, but what it does show is how quickly the field of robotics is advancing, from mobility systems to increasingly realistic humanoid designs.