🌐 Hanson Robotics

About Hanson Robotics

Hanson Robotics was founded in 2013 in Hong Kong by David Hanson, a former Walt Disney Imagineering sculptor and materials scientist. The company is best known for creating Sophia, a social humanoid robot that became a global media phenomenon following her launch in 2016. Sophia's lifelike facial expressions, enabled by Hanson's proprietary Frubber material and a mechanical expression system with dozens of actuators, attracted extraordinary media coverage and speaking invitations at venues including the United Nations and the World Economic Forum.

The company also developed Grace, a healthcare-focused social robot designed for interaction with elderly patients, deployed in limited trials during the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to maintain social contact while minimising infection risk. Hanson Robotics sits at the intersection of art, technology, and commercial product development, with an aesthetic approach that distinguishes its products sharply from the more functional designs of most robotics companies.

The company has faced ongoing questions about the commercial scalability of highly expressive humanoid robots, given the costs of the animatronic systems required to achieve realistic facial expression.

Key Products

• Sophia: Expressive humanoid social robot with 50+ facial expression actuators and AI-driven conversation capabilities.
• Grace: Healthcare humanoid with thermometer and visual check capability, designed for patient interaction.
• Little Sophia: Educational robot companion based on scaled-down Sophia design for STEM learning.

UK Market Presence

Hanson Robotics does not have a regular UK sales channel. Sophia and Grace are deployed through bespoke enterprise and institutional arrangements rather than standard retail channels. Little Sophia has been available for sale in limited quantities internationally at approximately £250 to £350 per unit.

Buying Used Hanson Robotics Equipment

Little Sophia units appear occasionally on eBay and specialist platforms. Full Sophia units are not available on the secondhand market in any practical sense given their limited production and institutional ownership. Battery and servo condition are the key checks for any used unit. Software and AI integration updates for older Sophia units may have limited ongoing support.