DroidUp's Moya humanoid robot has warm skin, shows emotion, and sparks uncanny valley debate

She walks, shows emotion, holds eye contact and is warm - but she's a robot

Not what you'd expect to see inside a robotDroidUp/Shanghai Eye At this stage of the robotics race, it's probably fair to assume that a few of us have a bit of humanoid malaise. After all, we've seen more funny videos of robots dropping plates out of dishwashers and taking 10 minutes to open and close a refrigerator door. And let's not even mention them trying to cook or play soccer. However, Shanghai robotics startup DroidUp (also known as Zhuoyide) has stepped things up a gear or five, which is certainly worth covering considering it expects the new realistic humanoid to be rolled out this year. The model known as Moya was unveiled during a launch at Shanghai's Zhangjiang Robotics Valley where many of China's emerging humanoid developers are clustered. Here, the company launched what it calls "a beautifully designed and expressive bionic robot" that is touted as "the world's first highly bionic robot that deeply integrates human aesthetics and advanced humanoid movement." Moya may be best introduced by video, not words, courtesy of Shanghai Eye, part of the Shanghai Media Group. "Based on a modular bionic platform architecture, Moya can be flexibly configured with different gender characteristics and appearances," a DroidUp spokesperson stated (this has been translated to English). "Its highly customizable bionic head can delicately express a wide range of emotions, from joy and anger to sorrow and happiness, with natural grace in its gaze. Equipped with the Zhuoyide cerebellar motor control model, its walking and turning movements are smooth and elegant, completely breaking away from the traditional 'steel image' of humanoid robots." Part of the pivot away from the "steel image" robot design involves giving Moya temperature control to mimic a human body, as well as the softness to replicate real skin and fat and muscle beneath it. She even has a rib cage. While the makers claim Moya has 92% human-like walking accuracy, that 8% shortfall is noticeable; her movement is uncannily like my own if I've ever had to walk in heels. But walking isn't her strength, anyway - that would be the way she interacts with humans, maintaining eye contact, smiling, nodding and expressing emotions with the kind of subtle facial muscle movements we do without being conscious of it a lot of the time. She's able to interact in real time to people facing her thanks to a camera behind her eyes, which combines with AI to enable her to make those human-like "micro expressions." On top of these rather human traits, Moya is also warm - literally. She's been designed to have her skin maintain a temperature of 32-36 °C (89.6-96.8 °F), which is a clever move in making her more relatable. Many studies have shown how we use touch to gauge temperature to relate to others and feel kinship - whether we realize it or not. "A robot that truly serves human life should be warm ... almost like a living being that people can people can connect with," Li Qingdu, founder of DroidUp, told Shanghai Eye. But with all that in mind, it's no surprise to find Moya has been met with mixed reviews. Most are the obvious "uncanny valley" remarks, while others liken her to a Westworld model or even a walking ghost. And while it isn't hard to imagine that an attractive, customizable human-like robot such as Moya will be sexualized, DroidUp hopes to have the model employed in much-needed roles like aged care. Though if you want your own Moya, you'll need at least around US$173,000, with the company announcing that when she enters the market later this year she will most likely be headed for healthcare and education facilities.

The world's first 'biomimetic AI robot' just strolled in from the uncanny valley -- and yes, it's super-creepy

Disturbingly lifelike humanoid robots are becoming a big theme of 2026 - and a Shanghai startup has just revealed what might be the closest thing to an extra from Westworld. Fortunately, it's still easy to tell that Moya is indeed a robot - the plasticky skin, dead eyes, and slightly jerky movements give that away. But a few interesting, or perhaps creepy, details mean it's also a cut above your average cold-blooded companion. Firstly, Moya's skin is actually warm. "A robot that truly serves human life should be warm... almost like a living being that people can people can connect with," claimed Li Qingdu, founder of Moya's maker Droidup, in an interview with Shanghai Eye. That's up for debate, but the robot has a body temperature of between 32C and 36C (or 90F-97F), according to Droidup. According to the South China Morning Post, this is because Droidup sees a future for Moya in healthcare, education, and commercial applications, as well as being a daily companion for humans. These lifelike elements extend to Moya's walking style, which Droidup claims has an accuracy rate of 92%. Quite how that's measured isn't clear, and it seems generous when you see Mora gingerly shuffling around as if she's just done a two-hour HIIT workout. However, Moya's 'Walker 3' skeleton is the sequel to the one that won the bronze medal in the world's first robot half-marathon, held in Beijing in April 2025. And there's no doubt that this robot has some impressive skills besides human-like movement. Behind her eyes is a camera, which means she can interact with humans and respond with human-like "micro expressions". There is naturally also AI on board, too, which is why Droidup is calling Moya the world's first "fully biomimetic embodied intelligent robot". That description is open to interpretation, but Mora is another impressive example of AI stepping out of the digital world and into our physical one, with increasingly convincing results. Humanoid robots are now stepping out of labs and into the real world, but they remain well beyond the reach of most consumers. Moya, for example, is expected to launch fully in late 2026 for ¥1.2 million, or around $173,000 / £127,000 / AU$248,000. The title of 'most creepily-realistic robot walk' still arguably goes to Xpeng's IRON (above), which sashays around like a catwalk model in such a convincing way that many have suspected it's a human cosplaying as a robot. That myth was dispelled when the robot spectacularly fell on its face during its first public demo (see 0:20s in the video above), proving that fails have now become a rite of passage for the heirs to Honda's legendary ASIMO. Or perhaps they're just lulling us into a false sense of security. Either way, CES 2026 showed us that humanoid robots aren't anywhere close to strolling around our homes, even if the 1X Neo (yours for just $20,000) briefly looked like the answer to our home chore prayers. The reality is that robots that are truly evolved for our homes don't need to look like Moya, let alone have warm skin or 92% walking accuracy. Commenters on the South China Morning Post video about Moya said, "If she dares to take two steps towards my bed, I'm throwing her off the balcony," and "It walks like a ghost, looks like a deterrent for burglars and keeps creepy neighbors at bay." Instead, we're most likely to meet humanoid robots in their early public service roles. UBTech Robotics recently won a big contract to post its humanoids at the China-Vietnam border crossing, where they'll guide travelers and, more worryingly, conduct inspections. And Droidup says it similarly sees robots like Moya as being best-suited to "public service scenarios" at "train stations, banks, museums, and shopping malls, providing the public with convenient services such as consultation, route guidance, and information introduction. That might be worrying news for those who work in those places, but for now, our home robots are more likely to look like the best robot vacuums than a humanoid with camera-powered eyes and warm skin.