Report: ‘High-tech’ robot on Russian TV was man in suit

MOSCOW – Russian media say a contraption presented by Russian state television as a high-tech robot was in fact a man in a commercially available robot costume.

The footage was shot at a high-tech show in the city of Yaroslavl that opened Tuesday, featuring “Boris the Robot.” Forum organizers used Boris to enliven the event, having him dance to a pop song.

But a crew for Russian state television apparently thought Boris was real, and used footage of him dancing and speaking as an example of Russian technological prowess.

Online TJournal noted the lack of sensors, human-like movements and other discrepancies, and revealed that Boris was in fact a human clad in a costume sold under the name Alyosha by the Russian company Show Robots.