A Japanese Robotics Company Is Building a Real-Life Optimus Prime

Rest assured, Michael Bay is not involved

April 27, 2018 9:00 am

Of all the fantasies you might’ve conjured watching Transformers, heading out on a date with Megan Fox probably seemed more plausible than someone building an actual, functioning Transformer.

And yet, here we are.

Project J-deite, a Japanese robotics company headed by hardware developer Kenji Ishida and software developer Wataru Yoshizaki, has spent years fine-tuning their robot humanoid/vehicle. Though it’s still a few years out from their final goal (they want it to stand 16 feet by 2020), a series of videos surfaced recently showing just how much progress they’ve already made.

For those worried about a group of these things unionizing and laying waste to our cities, don’t worry. The designers have plans, it appears, for the final product to be a sort of amusement park ride. That being said, recent robotic progress has been trending a bit apocalyptic, as far as human beings are concerned.

Let’s just make sure we put a big red “Off” switch on these things.  

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