Titan, the British entertainment robot, in UK in September 2018 (illustration) - Geoffrey Swaine / REX / Shutterstock / SIPA

  • On social networks, a video showing a robot more than two meters high walking the aisles of a salon is having a big impact.
  • “The world is going crazy! It is the King of Bahrain who arrives in Dubai with his robot bodyguard ”, affirms one of the legends associated with these images, while affirming that the device would be equipped with three machine guns.
  • If the sequence was filmed in the United Arab Emirates, it shows neither the King of Bahrain, nor a robot bodyguard… but simply a machine designed to entertain the audience by singing and dancing.

He is without a doubt the most imposing and least discreet “bodyguard” in the world. As much because of its imposing build as the metallic noise that punctuates each of its steps.

Long before appearing in the field of the camera, behind the man whose footsteps he seems to follow within a convention, this robot with "eyes" lit by lights and a humanoid jaw indeed already attracts attention. And he would hide, under his cloak, a terrifying arsenal, despite the presence, behind him, of a crowd of curious people in the process of immortalizing his passage with their smartphones.

At least if we are to believe one of the legends accompanying this video widely shared on social networks as on YouTube: “The world is going crazy! It is the King of Bahrain who arrives in Dubai with his robot bodyguard. […] He can physically fight, hunt, shoot. He is armed with an electric [taser], a 360 degree camera system ”.

Not to mention "a set of infrared cameras, 3 hidden machine guns with enough ammunition to fight 1,050 men and a laser guided sniper machine gun". A robotic “prodigy” that would have cost the modest sum of 7.4 million dollars, according to this Facebook post.

Although the video in question is genuine, the description associated with it is misleading in two ways, since it does not show the King of Bahrain or a military robot.

FAKE OFF

Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa, ruler of Bahrain, does not closely or remotely resemble the man walking in front of the robot, as can be seen in the photo below, taken at the Elysee Palace in April 2019 .

The King of Bahrain, Hamed ben Issa Al Khalifa, during his visit to the Elysee Palace in April 2019. - Hamed ben Issa Al Khalifa

The flag of the United Arab Emirates visible on the left arm and epaulet of the mechanical giant give a clue to its origin. A simple search on YouTube, with the keywords “robot” and “Etimad” - of the name visible on the floor of the convention where the sequence was filmed - allows you to find the same images in several videos uploaded the year last.

One of them, dating from February 2019 and showing in addition the robot interacting on other occasions, thus presents it as "a robot of more than two meters" in charge "of welcoming visitors to the Idex exhibition of the defense ”in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. A description that echoes that of an article in a local daily, the  Khaleej Times , published a few days before.

A robot capable of singing and dancing

“The Titan reception robot entertains visitors to [the Idex], as it passes, approximately every hour, to welcome them to the largest regional convention devoted to defense. Dressed in a military jacket, Titan walks in the middle of the crowd, to which he presents himself in English as in Arabic ”, the daily indicated in particular.

If the scene was therefore filmed in the United Arab Emirates, in February 2019, this 60 kg robot was designed by the British company Cyberstein for entertainment purposes.

I'm feeling festive after turning on all those Christmas lights this year and singing 🎶 Christmas songs, popping 🎉confetti cannons, telling Christmas jokes and sporting my Christmas hat, 🎅 which is definitely not to small for my head !! pic.twitter.com/w3IbPUKWgY

- Titan the Robot (@TITANtheROBOT) December 17, 2019

As can be seen from the various videos and photos of Titan taken during his appearances in conventions or shopping malls, he is indeed able to sing and dance (including on Gangnam Style). It also makes the public happy thanks to its audio extracts of replicas of cult films.

So many features that make it more of a street artist than a prototype of Terminator.

Society

An armed military robot that never misses its target? It's a parody video

Media

Report information that you think is false to the "Fake Off" team of "20 Minutes"

  • Weapons
  • Fake off
  • Robotics
  • Robot
  • Society