While at first glance this peculiar experimental robotic face looks more like a plate of blancmange than a futuristic piece of technology, it is in fact an early stepping stone toward building life-like humanoid robots with realistic skin and facial features.
Developed by scientists at the University of Tokyo, the bizarre pink face is created using specially engineered human skin tissue that’s grown in much the same way as lab-grown meat products.
“These human skin cells are mainly harvested from excess skin obtained during surgeries,” said study co-author Michio Kawai. “Cultured skin has the same composition as human skin and is also used as a graft material for people with severe burns or injuries.”
To turn this skin into an actual robot, the researchers had to attach it to an acrylic-based resin using a special collagen gel, which also made it possible for the ‘face’ to move.
In a recent demonstration (see video below), the face was shown scrunching up into a sort of cheesy, unnatural grin – something that is not in the least bit likely to give anyone nightmares…
“We managed to replicate human appearance to some extent by creating a face with the same surface material and structure as humans,” said study lead author Professor Shoji Takeuchi.
While there is still a long way to go to make anything even remotely resembling a realistic human, technology such as this could one day produce a robot almost indistinguishable from a real person.
avila
YUK!
Nicole H
Whyyy??? What’s wrong with using silicone?