The day will come when we won't be able to tell the difference between an android and a real person from close range. That day has just gotten closer, thanks to the Japanese.

Say hello to "Kodomoroid" and "Otonaroid," two new Japanese-built androids that look more like us and, more ominously, can talk like us, as well.

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The two new androids "work" as guides at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, also called the Miraikan Museum, in Tokyo.

The two life-size androids are encased in silicon skin and have artificial muscles. They will be put on display today, Wednesday, at the Miraikan. Their presence will allow the public to extensively interact with them.

Japanese robotics expert Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro said the androids will be useful in research on how people interact with robots and on what differentiates a person from a machine.

In a demonstration of their new capabilities, the androids moved their lips in sync with a voice-over; twitched their eyebrows; blinked and swayed their heads from side to side. They stayed seated during the demo but moved their hands.

In a stunning display, Kodomoroid read the news in Japanese without error and recited complex tongue-twisters. It also displayed a sense of humor.

Kodomoroid has the face and features of a girl but, unlike a human female, can speak in many voices, including that of a male. The speech can be input by text, giving them perfect articulation.

The machines did make a few mistakes - Otonaroid refused to answer when asked to introduce "itself," is an example - but these anomalies were to be expected in such advanced technology.

Also revealed to the public was "Telenoid," a mannequin head with pointed arms built to act as a cute companion.

Prof. Ishiguro has been developing robots for over 20 years and is obsessed with building lifelike androids.

His fondness for androids, or human-looking robots, isn't shared by many robotics scientists who say a robot that looks like a human is pointless, and potentially dangerous. Prof. Ishiguro is unfazed by these criticisms, however.

"Making androids is about exploring what it means to be human," he said. "Examining the question of what is emotion, what is awareness, what is thinking."

TagsAndroid robots, Japanese human-like robots