胡宇航对人脸机器人方向产生兴趣，是在2020年左右。彼时人工智能领域的自然语言处理和计算机视觉 研究取得了飞跃式发展，胡宇航感知到，未来的人机交互会因为视觉、自然语言的重大突破而发生改 变。"尤其是机器人可以理解人类语言、视频中的语义信息，甚至是情感。在这样的发展背景下，我认 为人脸机器人这类和交互高度相关的机器人品类，会是非常好的AI载体。" 而今他的研究已经取得了重要进展。现在每天在实验室陪伴他的3台机器人中，1台是元老级人物、曾经 登上《科学·机器人学》的蓝色面庞的"Eva"，1台是曾经参与过科幻电影《Post Human》拍摄的紫色面 庞的"Emo-0"。还有一台就是"Emo"，"她"拥有双目视觉、双耳麦克风、多模态驱动"大脑"，以及能够 感知与表达情绪的"小脑"。真实的皮肤质感、面部表情和对话语言，让她看起来不仅是一台机器人，而 是一个有灵魂的存在。在胡宇航发布的一则视频中，"Emo"在胡宇航的电脑边，不时"磕头"打瞌睡地陪 胡宇航与机器人"Emo"。受访者供图 他加班到凌晨5点，询问他"我好困，你下班了吗，我想先休息了"，并对胡宇航说的"再工作1小时"有些 为难："怎么会还有这么久，周日也加班啊。 ...

Core Viewpoint - The article discusses the innovative approach of a company, Shouxing Technology, led by Yu Hang Hu, in developing humanoid robots that can express emotions and engage in emotional interactions, positioning them as valuable companions rather than mere tools [2][3][18]. Group 1: Company Overview - Shouxing Technology focuses on creating humanoid robots with emotional capabilities, a niche that has seen little competition [2]. - The company has recently completed a new round of financing and plans to expand its team from around 20 to 40-50 members by the end of the year [4][33]. - The company aims to build a commercial loop in interactive scenarios, targeting high emotional value spaces such as experience centers and theme parks [3][23]. Group 2: Product Development - The humanoid robots are designed to have natural facial expressions and real-time interaction capabilities, which are essential for emotional connection [3][18]. - The robots undergo self-supervised learning by practicing expressions in front of a mirror, allowing them to associate motor commands with facial expressions [13][12]. - The company utilizes advanced algorithms to create smoother and more natural expressions, addressing the "uncanny valley" effect that can arise with humanoid robots [10][9]. Group 3: Market Positioning - The target audience for these robots includes individuals who value emotional companionship, particularly those who understand the importance of emotional connections in life [27]. - The company believes that humanoid robots are better suited for emotional products rather than productivity tools, especially in the next five years [18][20]. - The emotional connection and immersive experience are seen as key differentiators from other AI products in the market [28]. Group 4: Challenges and Future Plans - The company acknowledges the challenge of overcoming the "uncanny valley" effect and is focused on refining their algorithms to enhance the robots' emotional expressiveness [9][10]. - Future plans include creating consumer-friendly, desktop-level products that can be easily experienced by users [23]. - The company is also exploring the Asian market first, due to its large size and relatively uniform aesthetic preferences [38].