Was this guy's passport photo rejected by a racist robot?

"Subject eyes are closed."



Can robots be racist? Okay, we've heard all the jokes about Asians having small eyes. Fine. Get the f*ck over it. But here's how it can get really inconvenient. In New Zealand, an Asian man recently got his passport photo rejected when facial recognition software mistakenly registered his eyes as being closed.

New Zealand passport robot tells applicant of Asian descent to open eyes

Richard Lee was trying to renew his passport, but found his attempts repeatedly blocked by the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs' automated online passport system, claiming his photo did not meet the technical requirements. The reason given: his eyes were closed in the photo. But actually, his eyes are clearly open.

Lee posted a screen shot of the notification on Facebook:

Starring Scarlett Johansson as Super Asian Robot Lady

Look at all the Cool Asian Shit in the 'Ghost in the Shell' trailer



Oh yeah, I forgot this was happening.

In case you missed it, Paramount recently dropped the first official full-length trailer for the live action Ghost in the Shell adaptation. Based on the classic sci-fi anime/manga, Scarlett Johansson stars as the human-cyborg Major -- otherwise known as Major Motoko Kusanagi in the original source material. But you knew that. Yes, for the uninitiated, this is that movie where Scarlett plays a Japanese robot lady.

Ghost in the Shell follows the Major, a special ops, one-of-a-kind human-cyborg hybrid, who leads the elite task force Section 9. Devoted to stopping the most dangerous criminals and extremists, Section 9 is faced with an enemy whose singular goal is to wipe out Hanka Robotic's advancements in cyber technology. And if they get around to it, Section 9 might just crack the baffling case of why the Major is played by a white woman.

Take a look:

Mall security robot injures toddler

16-month-old Harwin Cheng was knocked down and run over by a robot security guard in Palo Alto.



Last week in Palo Alto, a young boy was knocked down and run over by a robot security guard at Stanford Shopping Center. Thankfully, the kid is okay, but his parents are mad as hell. Wait, did I just read that right?

Parents upset after Stanford Shopping Center security robot injures child

Yes, there are robot mall security guards. And their people skills are apparently not so great. Last Thursday, 16-month-old Harwin Cheng had a frightening collision with the Stanford Shopping Center's robot.

"The robot hit my son's head and he fell down facing down on the floor and the robot did not stop and it kept moving forward," Harwin's mom Tiffany Teng told ABC7. The robot ran over Harwin's right foot, causing it to swell, but luckily didn't break any bones. He also had a scrape on his leg from the incident.

A Nightmarish Neon Apocalyptic Japanese Fever Dream... Starring Donald Trump

Mike Diva's "Japanese Donald Trump Commercial" feels like a warning from the future.



Behold, Haters and Lovers of Donald J. Trump. What in the hell did I just watch?

The latest video from Mike Diva, simply titled "Japanese Donald Trump Commercial" is a nightmarish neon apocalyptic Japanese fever dream of robots and nukes and fascist iconography, starring your favorite presumptive Republican presidential nominee. It is equal parts beautiful, kawaii and terrifying as fuck.

Take a look:

This Hello Kitty x Mazinger Z mashup will save the world

Two classic Japanese pop culture icons collide for an awesome action figure collaboration.



This is what happens two classic Japanese pop culture icons collide. Bandai Tamashii Nations has created two incredible action figure collaborations combining, believe it or not, Hello Kitty and Mazinger Z.

Standing approximately four-inches tall, the Hello Kitty Mazinger Z Color Chogokin Die-Cast Metal Action Figure is Hello Kitty rocking a retro Mazinger Z metallic look with a mini pilot Hello Kitty finished in Koji Kabuto colors. The set includes a special display case and underwater-mode parts.

The Mazinger Z Chogokin Hello Kitty Color Version Die-Cast Metal Action Figure features Hello Kitty's iconic red ribbon where Mazinger Z's trademark chest piece usually rests. And the iconic giant robot's Jet Scrander belt has been reformed as Hello Kitty's face. The figure includes a special display base, four interchangeable hands, Jet Scrander, Mazinger Blade and measures approximately 5 1/4-inches tall.

How did this colossal collaboration happen? This video gives us the origin story:

First Look at Gemma Chan in 'Humans'

AMC's upcoming sci-fi drama series is about robots in the parallel present.



In addition to our first look at Daniel Wu in Into the Badlands, during the season five finale of The Walking Dead, AMC also offered a quick glimpse of Gemma Chan in the upcoming sci-fi drama series Humans.

The eight-part series, based on the award-winning Swedish sci-fi drama Real Humans, is set in a parallel present where the latest must-have gadget for any busy family is a 'Synth' -- a highly developed robotic servant eerily similar to its live counterpart. It looks like Gemma Chan plays the "upgrade you've been waiting for."

Here's the teaser:

Robert Kinoshita, creator of Hollywood robots, dies at 100

Best known for designing robots from 'Forbidden Planet' and 'Lost in Space'



Robert Kinoshita, an artist, art director and production designer who was best known for designing some of the most iconic robots from Hollywood film and television, has died. He was 100.

Robert Kinoshita, 'Lost in Space' robot creator, dies at 100

Kinoshita served as production designer on a number of films and TV shows, and is responsible for creating Robby the Robot for the 1956 science fiction classic Forbidden Planet, as well as the robot Tobor from the 1954 film Tobor the Great and the 1957 television pilot Here Comes Tobor.

He was also the first-season art director for the TV show Lost in Space, for which he created one of the show's most popular characters -- the robot, best remembered for the line "Danger! Danger, Will Robinson!"

Big bouncy robot fun in the first full trailer for 'Big Hero 6'

Disney's animated feature based on the Marvel Comics superhero team



Hot off the recent character reveals and voice cast announcement for Walt Disney Animation Studios' first Marvel Comics feature adaptation Big Hero 6, here's the first full trailer for the animated superhero adventure:

Disney announces voice cast and characters for 'Big Hero 6'

Disney's first animated Marvel adaptation includes Ryan Potter and Jamie Chung



Disney has officially announced the full voice cast for its upcoming animated adventure feature Big Hero 6, based on the Marvel Comics superhero team. The cast includes Ryan Potter as Hiro Hamada, Scott Adsit as Baymax, TJ Miller as Fred, Jamie Chung as Go Go Tomago and Damon Wayans Jr as Wasabi, among others.

Disney Announces the Voice Cast for Big Hero 6

Set in a fictional future metropolis called San Fransokyo, it follows a young robotics prodigy named Hiro Hamada who uncovers a criminal plot and must assemble a team of superheroes to save his city. The movie marks the first animated Marvel feature adaptation from Walt Disney Animation Studios. A super-fun teaser trailer dropped a couple of months back.

Here's a preview of some of the characters from Big Hero 6:

Robots! Heroes! Asians! Watch the trailer for 'Big Hero 6'

Boy builds a robot superhero in the teaser for Disney's first Marvel animated feature



Robots! Superheroes! Asians! Asians? Disney just dropped the first teaser trailer for its latest Marvel movie adaptation, and it's not quite what you might have expected... but it does look kind of fun.

First Teaser for Marvel and Disney's 'Big Hero 6': Meet Their 'Huggable' Robot

Big Hero 6, based on the Marvel Comics superhero team, is the first animated Marvel feature from Walt Disney Animation Studios. Set in a fictional future metropolis called San Fransokyo, it follows a young robotics prodigy named Hiro Hamada who uncovers a criminal plot and must build a team of superheroes to save his city.

In the teaser, we see Hiro putting the finishing touches -- mighty mechanized armor! -- on his robot companion Baymax... who turns out to be a big softie. Literally. Take a look:

Fund This: Grendizer USB Flash Drive Figure

This is something cool for fans of old school Japanese robots and totally awesome USB memory drives. If you liked that rad Voltron USB Drive, designed by Alan Yen, I posted a couple of years ago, you'll dig this fully poseable Grendizer USB memory figure, licensed and in the works from Incubot Productions. They're currently winding down a Kickstarter campaign to make it happen. Watch the video to get all the geeky details about the figure:

pacific rim trailer: giant f*cking monsters versus giant f*cking robots

Hell to the yes. Guillermo Del Toro, director of Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy, has made a huge-ass kaiju-inspired blockbuster flick about giant f%cking monsters against giant f%cking robots. Behold, fanboys, the first trailer for Pacific Rim, the movie everyone will be talking about next summer:

fund this: fred chao's alison and her rainy day robot

Crazy late posting this, but if you're fan of comics, I want to make sure you're aware of Alison and Her Rainy Day Robot, the latest project from author/illustrator Fred Chao. It's currently winding down a Kickstarter campaign for a print run of a 64-page full-color hardcover children's book. Here's the video with more information:

The Endless Robot Transformation

Perhaps the most needlessly elaborate robot-assembly sequence ever animated.



Saw this on i09 a little while ago and it made laugh... This is a clip from the 1970s Japanese animated series Battle Commander Daimos, in which the hero must go through an insane number of (somewhat dangerous and unnecessarily complex) steps to get into his giant robot: