The Japanese robotics legend Hiroshi Ishiguro is partnering with the leading Chinese robotics firm Unitree to commercialize his long-running android research.
Ishiguro, director of Osaka University’s Intelligent Robotics Laboratory, has been going viral since the 2000s for his hyper-realistic humanoid robots. He attracted global attention with lifelike creations like his self-replica Geminoid robots and the conversational android Erica the television news anchor. He introduced one of the first robots with humanlike facial expressions, Actroid DER, in 2005.
He co-founded Tokyo-based Avita in 2021 to create AI-driven digital avatars and, that same year, launched A-Lab to build the hardware to embody them. Avita, where he serves as CEO, recently acquired A-Lab to push its digital humans into that physical reality.
At MWC 2026 in Barcelona, Avita presented its first physical prototype developed in collaboration with the Japanese telecom giant KDDI Corporation. As part of the agreement, KDDI will provide the connectivity and data infrastructure needed to support remote control and AI processing. The humanoid essentially brings Avita’s virtual avatar technology into physical reality with its humanlike silicone skin and pneumatic actuation powering facial expressions.
Avita paired the exhibition with its announcement that it signed a memorandum of understanding with Hangzhou-based Unitree, which leads the world in humanoid deliveries. The partnership could give the hyper-realistic androids eerily humanlike bipedal locomotion.
Combining lifelike expressivity and humanlike walking has long been one of the steepest hurdles in robotics because they rely on opposite engineering priorities. Realistic facial movement demands delicate, low torque micromotors and fine motor control for subtle expression, while full-body walking and balancing requires high-torque joints, fast reaction loops, and robust stabilization algorithms.
Synchronizing the two systems without mechanical noise, vibrations, or latency breaking the illusion of life is technically complex to say the least. That’s starting to change thanks to better lightweight motors, smarter AI-driven motion control, and more accurate sensors.
Shanghai-based DroidUp recently attracted global attention with its hyper-realistic biped humanoid named Moya, which the startup plans to start selling for around $175,000 later in 2026. Another Chinese startup, Hefei-based AnyWit Robotics, used Unitree’s compact G1 humanoid platform to build its hyper-realistic pink-haired C-pop android named Annie.
The humanoids Avita is developing with Unitree would likely be used for customer service and reception roles. Digital humans are already increasingly common in Japan, which faces worsening labor shortages with one of the world’s oldest populations.
“Avita is rolling out AI role-playing and customer service solutions using avatars. It might seem simplistic, just making images move and talk, but implementing conversational AI is a treasure trove of expertise,” Avita co-founder and COO/CFO Shogo Nishiguchi said on X. “When hardware gets involved, the difficulty level ramps up even further.”
Ishiguro has long argued that humanlike robots will eventually become normal in everyday life. He’s predicted that, as AI advances, machines will take on increasingly humanlike forms because people naturally communicate through faces, gestures, and body language. He has said social robots be able to express emotion and nonverbal cues to provide practical value.
Avita plans to begin trialing the system in commercial facilities as early as autumn 2026.