Have you ever wondered what it would look like if a robot ripped your face off, gently placed it on its unfeeling exoskeleton, and then looked at you with a chilling smile that made you wonder how humanity had strayed so far from all that is good and right? Well, you need to wonder no more!
In a recently published study, scientists from the University of Tokyo worked together to figure out how to attach engineered living skin tissue, made from biological cells, to the face of a humanoid robot. Their goal is to pave the way for a future where robots can be coated with self-healing, synthetic skin that gives them the ability to sense and generally give them a lifelike appearance.
“During previous research on a finger-shaped robot covered with engineered skin tissue that we grew in our laboratory, I felt the need for better adhesion between the robotic features and the subcutaneous structure of the skin,” says Professor Shoji Takeuchi of the University of Tokyo . who led the new study that appeared in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science.
Previous attempts to attach synthetic skin to surfaces relied on hooks or anchors to adhere the material to a robot’s face. For the new study, the researchers took a different approach, opting instead to create small v-shaped perforations in the face plate material, to which the skin could be attached using a collagen gel using a process known as ‘plasma treatment’.
To test their approach, the team stuck ‘living skin’ onto the face of a 3D humanoid robot, and onto a flattened version with moving parts, which could be manipulated to make the face ‘smile’, without tearing or to let go of the underlying structure. . Both faces, unfortunately, were utterly nightmarish to look at, bordering on cursed – an aesthetic not helped by the glassy, lifeless eyes emanating from the experimental faces.
“In this study, we managed to mimic human appearance to some extent by creating a face with the same surface material and structure as humans,” says Takeuchi. The scientists believe it could be possible to create a more realistic form of synthetic skin by adding structural elements such as pores, glands, fat and even nerves.
Researchers have found a way to bond engineered skin tissue to the complex shapes of humanoid robots. #UTokyoResearch #robotics #bioengineering https://t.co/sRfebItIml pic.twitter.com/iM2WSqjM5H
— UTokyo | 東京大学 (@UTokyo_News_en) June 25, 2024
“Of course, movement is also a crucial factor, not just the material, so another important challenge is to create human expressions by integrating advanced actuators, or muscles, into the robot,” Takeuchi explains. “Creating robots that can heal themselves, sense their environment more accurately and perform tasks with human-like dexterity is incredibly motivating.”
The researchers also hope that the study could one day be used in multiple areas of research and help test surgical procedures, plastic surgery, cosmetics and more. For more robot news, read about Boston Dynamics’ all-electric and extremely flexible Atlas robot, which was unveiled earlier this year, or learn about the flamethrower-equipped robot dog known as the Thermonator, which thankfully isn’t out yet equipped with ‘living skin’.
Anthony is a freelance contributor to science and video game news for IGN. He has more than eight years of experience covering groundbreaking developments in multiple scientific fields and has absolutely no time for your nonsense. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer