A lifelike robot that looks and talks like its creator is prompting visitors in Farnham to rethink loneliness in the digital age.

Zhongjing 2.0, a robotic double of artist and researcher Zhongjing Jiang, is the centrepiece of I Dream a Lot but I Never Sleep, now showing at the James Hockey Gallery at the University for the Creative Arts (UCA).

The humanoid head, modelled on Jiang’s own face, sits in an interactive “living room” where visitors can strike up a conversation.

The work forms part of Jiang’s PhD at UCA, drawing on three years of research into loneliness, intimacy and the increasingly blurred lines between humans and machines.

Growing up as an only child under China’s one-child policy, Jiang said the project reflects her personal experience of solitude while also exploring whether a mechanical companion can offer genuine comfort in an algorithm-driven world.

To develop Zhongjing 2.0, Jiang used text and data from conversations and interviews with UCA students about loneliness. This material was used to train the robot’s language model to interpret and respond naturally, with a tone designed to convey warmth and playfulness.

The process began with hand-drawn sketches before progressing through silicone casting, 3D printing and airbrushing to create its uncannily human features.

“Zhongjing 2.0 wasn’t built as a technological solution to loneliness,” Jiang said. “It’s an artistic exploration of what companionship might look and feel like when shared with a machine.”

The exhibition invites visitors to sit and talk with the robot as part of a live interaction programme, held every Monday and Wednesday from 11.30am to 2.30pm and again from 3.30pm to 5pm.

I Dream a Lot but I Never Sleep runs until Friday, November 21, at the James Hockey Gallery, University for the Creative Arts, Farnham. Admission is free.