Russian robot Boris turns out to be man in a costume after TV viewers spot his neckline

Ella Wills13 December 2018

A "hi-tech robot" shown on Russian state television turned out to be a man in a suit after eagle-eyed viewers spotted his neckline underneath the costume.

Russia-24 hailed the robot during coverage of a youth forum on robotics earlier this week, noting that “Robot Boris has already learned to dance and he’s not that bad”.

But the report raised questions among viewers who were sceptical of Boris's performance.

Russian website TJournal published a list of queries on its site including: where were the robot's sensors? And why does the robot look as if a man would fit perfectly inside it?

Pictures later emerged on social media showing a man's visible neckline in the suit.

The so-called robot is believed to be an “Alyosha the Robot” costume made by a company called Show Robots.

A photograph published by Russian news agency MBKh Media appeared to show an actor in the robot suit ahead of the forum on Tuesday in Yaroslavl.

Meanwhile a YouTube video published in July shows a detailed review of the Show Robots suit.

But Russian state television footage mistook the suit for the real thing.

“It’s entirely possible one of these [students] could dedicate himself to robotics,” an anchor reported, according to the Guardian.

“Especially as at the forum they have the opportunity to look at the most modern robots.”

The robot was not presented as real during the performance, TJournal reported.

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