Toshiba have made a bid for the 'most horrifying new tech' award at this year's CES, by unveiling a robot geisha.
The android - pitched as a way to create "effective communication" between humans and non-humans - is on show at the company's stand at the tech show in Las Vegas.
Unfortunately in person the effect is nothing short of horrifying. The robot has dead black eyes and pale, ghostly skin. In moves jerkily and with the same open-shut mouth that you'll have seen on automata at Disney World (or in the 18th century). And while there have consistently been huge crowds around the display at this year's mega-conference, the reaction has not been positive - as you can seen in the video above.
On the other hand, it's got a huge amount of attention from the press -- most of it derisory, perhaps but all of it including the Toshiba logo in the article. And in the end, maybe that was the point.
Take a look at how it works. And welcome to the future - it's appalling.