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Researchers have unveiled a pair of new robot guides at a Tokyo museum that look so eerily human and speak so smoothly they almost outdo humans.

Pair of android newscasters were unveiled at an exhibition called Android: What is a Human? at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo.

The two android based robots can interact with humans, read the news and read Tweets in several different voices.

Japanese robotics expert Hiroshi Ishiguro, an Osaka University professor, says they will be useful for research on how people interact with robots and on what differentiates the person from the machine, reported Irish Examiner.

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

The two robots named Kodomoroid and Otonaroid will become part of the museum's collection and will interact with visitors to help collect data for Professor Ishiguro's research into human-robot interactions.

Ishiguro has been developing robots for over 20 years and hopes that this research will help develop more intelligent robots that would be used in a large range of potential roles, reported CNET.