A Chinese company is developing hyper-realistic humanoid robots that mimic facial expressions and emotions.

EXROBOTS in the northeastern city of Dalian said the robots are among the most advanced in the world and could have future application in psychological disorders.

At its factory, rows of semi-finished silicon faces stare from a workbench complete with smiles, grimaces, hair and beards.

Li  Boyang, the EXROBOTS chief executive, said its robots will differ from many of the basic models that exist by training them through artificial intelligence to recognise and express expressions and emotions.

“The model we’re making is multi-modal and capable of emotional expression. It can perceive the surrounding environment and produce appropriate facial feedback,” Li said.

As an EXROBOTS worker moves her head, smiles and sticks out her tongue, a humanoid robot with tiny motors in its head copies her movement.

The robots are intended to be displayed in museums, one of which the company has housed in the same building as its factory. But they could have future use in the health industry, says Li.

“Psychological counselling and health are certainly future application scenarios. We are currently conducting related research, such as auxiliary treatment and preliminary screening for emotional and psychological disorders,” he said.

EXROBOTS said it takes from two weeks to a month to produce a humanoid robot, which are priced between 1.5 million yuan (£162,600) and 2 million yuan.