Inside the lab that creates creepy humanoid robots that can hold a conversation (and even DANCE!)

A team of British engineers are building lifelike robots that can dance, talk in several languages and even scare London pub-goers. This hyper-realistic Engineering Arts robot, modelled to be an exact replica of London-based actor Tedroy Newell, sat down for a refreshing lager at The Prince Alfred pub in Maida Vale, London, last month Engineered Arts electrical engineer Beni Szlivka works on the skeleton structure of a Mesmer robot that is being built at the company's headquarters in Penryn RoboThespian comes with a packed library of impressions, greetings, songs and gestures. Photos taken from within the firm's factory reveal the inner-workings of how the company combines prosthetics, robotics and artistry A team of British engineers are building lifelike robots that can dance, talk in several languages and even scare London pub-goers The top of the range android, the fully interactive and multilingual RoboThespian, has been sold and displayed around the world Mesmer robots offer some of the smartest animatronics on the market, giving extensive interaction but can also move very smoothly, quietly and naturally too. It is often accompanied by sister model, the SociBot Many academic and commercial research groups are also using the robots as research and development platforms All RoboThespians come with a touchscreen kiosk where people can select languages, trigger content, animate the robot and see what its sensors see Customers can use the web-based software to manage and customise the features of RoboThespian via customised software Engineered Arts is a team of five that can also create one-off and customised robots to the specifications of customers Last month, the company developed Fred, a one off automaton that frightened punters in a London pub. RoboThespian has been used for many different things such as a comedian, an acotr and even as a dance troupe The robots are built to order and RoboThespian stands at 5 foot 9 inches tall Last month, the company developed Fred, a one off automaton that frightened punters in a London pub Engineering Arts built Fred in 12 weeks.