Google engineers create world's first AI dress using robot snake, sparking online reaction

A Google employee recently created the “world's first AI dress,” wowing many online. Christina Ernst, a software engineer at the tech giant and founder of SheBuildsRobots.org, a platform that teaches girls to build robots, shared a video of her creation, which includes a robot snake with facial recognition.

Known as the “Medusa Dress,” the dress is black with three golden snakes around the waist and one large robotic snake wrapped around the neck. Ernst said in the video, “I designed the robotic snake dress and finally finished it. I coded an optional mode that uses artificial intelligence to detect faces and move the snake's head towards the person looking at it. Is this the world's first AI dress? We are a surveillance state, but we are making it fashionable.” The engineer also showed some failed prototypes and revealed how he programmed the snake to identify and detect faces. She has previously posted various Instagram Reels videos showing the process of creating the various parts of the dress.

Since being shared, the now-viral video has garnered over 2.9 million views and 140,000 likes on the social media platform. The caption of the post reads, “Robot Medusa dress is finally finished!!!”

“I really love this project as I am also an engineer and love fashion. I see a lot of comments saying they expected something different but I want them to know how much work, time and money it takes to do this kind of project. Great job!!!,” said one user.

“I admire women in STEM fields,” a second person wrote.

“Why not wear a dress and video someone walking past you, then you'll see the snake moving its head,” one person suggested.

“This is so amazing and moving. Some people in the comments seem to have forgotten that this was your first attempt and no one had done this before you. And I don't think anyone could have done it. So well done,” added another.

“You're so amazing. So clever and innovative. I think you've done really well and I'm sure you can do even better in the future. Can't wait. This is amazing,” one Instagram user commented.

“Disappointing. The snake looks torn apart. Looks like a toy. I was hoping for more,” said one user.

One social media user added: “This is so exciting and there are so many ways it can be used! I think it will have a huge impact on the world of fashion and robotics! Love it!”