Say Cheese: Japanese Scientists Create Smiling Robot with Living Skin
Japanese scientists have developed a robot with a smiling face made of living skin tissue. The breakthrough holds promise for applications in cosmetics and medicine. The researchers aim to enhance the lab-grown skin with a circulatory system and nerves.
This groundbreaking development holds great potential for applications in the fields of cosmetics and medicine.
Researchers at the University of Tokyo have grown human skin cells in the shape of a face and used embedded ligament-like attachments to pull it into a wide grin. While the result may be somewhat eerie, it represents a significant step towards creating more lifelike robots, according to lead researcher Shoji Takeuchi.
Takeuchi explains, "By attaching these actuators and anchors, it became possible to manipulate living skin for the first time." The smiling robot, featured in a recent study published online by Cell Reports Physical Science, is the culmination of a decade of research by Takeuchi and his team on the integration of biological and artificial machines.
Living tissue offers numerous advantages over traditional materials such as metals and plastics. Takeuchi highlights the energy efficiency of brains and muscles, as well as the skin's remarkable ability to self-repair. Looking ahead, the researchers plan to enhance the lab-grown skin by incorporating a circulatory system and nerves. This could pave the way for safer testing platforms for cosmetics and drugs that are absorbed through the skin.
Furthermore, this breakthrough could lead to the development of more realistic and functional coverings for robots. However, one challenge remains: overcoming the unsettling feeling that machines evoke when they fall just short of being entirely convincing.
Takeuchi acknowledges, "There's still a bit of that creepiness to it. I think that making robots out of the same materials as humans and having them show the same expressions might be one key to overcoming the uncanny valley."
Japanese scientists have developed a robot with a smiling face made of living skin tissue.
The breakthrough holds promise for applications in cosmetics and medicine.
The researchers aim to enhance the lab-grown skin with a circulatory system and nerves.
Source: REUTERS