Robot pole-dancers with CCTV cameras for heads perform in Las Vegas club during CES 2018

'I didn’t build these to get involved in the sex industry. They weren’t about sex, they were about voyeurism', says their creator

Aatif Sulleyman
Wednesday 10 January 2018 19:07 GMT
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Pole dancing robots take to the stage at CES 2018 in Las Vegas

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A pair of “robotic exotic dancers” are performing at a strip club in Las Vegas, during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2018 technology conference.

Dubbed “#R2DoubleD” and “#TripleCPU”, they are the newest attractions at sin city's Sapphire club.

The humanoid robots, which can dance and gyrate around poles, are not designed to look like real people.

Both have a CCTV camera for a head, feature exposed wiring and are built from scrap materials. They also wear high heels.

They were created by kinetic sculptor Giles Walker, who told the Recode tech website that they "weren’t about sex, they were about voyeurism."

He said: "I didn’t build these to get involved in the sex industry."

He added: “I’ve been dragged into this side of things unintentionally, but I’m not complaining. It does pay the bills. I am a robot pimp in that way.”

The robots have also appeared at Sexpo 2016, an adult exhibition in Melbourne, Australia.

“By placing the CCTV on the body of a pole dancer I am looking at the relationship of voyeurism and power,” Mr Walker said at the time.

“If people can get used to the idea that they can do whatever they want to it without responsibility then it leads to a very dangerous area.”

The robots will be on show at the Las Vegas venue throughout this week, as CES 2018 runs nearby.

However, the show isn’t an official part of the technology conference, which has attracted criticism for a lack of gender diversity.

For the second year in a row, none of the keynote sessions at CES will be led by women.

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