He creates a creepy humanoid robot whose face is made of living skin

In science fiction, it is not difficult for us to find humanoid robots so realistic that they are practically indistinguishable from a real person, as happens in the popular science fiction series “Battlestar Galactica” and its cylons, or in more current fiction such as ” Real People” (which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year) -or Alien, Terminator… the list is extremely long-. And that’s it Human-like robots have been around since the first science fiction stories. Now, following that journey, a team of Japanese scientists have succeeded in creating a robotic face from human skin grown in a lab thanks to a new technique that allows them Attach skin tissue to humanoid robots.

This advance will not only improve current robotics and give it a more realistic appearance, but according to a team of researchers led by Professor Shoji Takeuchi from the University of Tokyo It could be useful in the cosmetic industry and in the field of plastic surgery. Likewise, specialists in biohybridos robots They hope that one day this technology will play a key role in inventing androids with human appearance and capabilities.

How did they achieve this?

Scientists created artificial skin using living cells, based on human skin ligaments. To attach the synthetic skin to the robot’s face, they added special perforations to the robot’s face to help the skin grip better and give it enhanced properties and abilities. They used a “gel loaded with skin-forming cells” to create a “robot covered in living skin,” as they discuss in their paper published in the journal Cell Physical Science News.

The living skin was created using collagen, a fibrous protein in human skin, and human dermal fibroblasts, the main type of connective tissue cell, which could be applied to a robotic finger and bent without breaking. Thanks to a new method of combining living synthetic skin with 3D printed lab-grown flesh and a robotic structure, a “more fluid and permanent connection” is created, Takeuchi states. The “engineered skin tissue” is made by taking a sample of human skin cells and growing them in the lab, similar to cultured meat, and the team designed tiny perforations that adapt the skin to virtually any surface.

The researchers’ goal is to “give robots the self-healing capabilities of their own biological skin,” although they have not yet achieved this goal. In laboratory tests, skin attached to a robotic face showed a “natural smile” It moves fluidly, in a way inspired by the ligaments of real human skin. In fact, you can clearly see the pink blob staring at the camera until he smiles and dimples appear on his face. And no, it’s not a nightmare; There is one more step to this to make robots look more and more human.

And “motion is also a crucial factor, not just material, so another important challenge is to create human expressions by integrating sophisticated actuators or muscles into the robot,” the authors comment.

Now that this ability exists, the integration of living skin may allow robots to have a number of new abilities, such as the ability to self-repair. “Create robots that can heal themselves “Perceiving your surroundings with greater precision and performing tasks with human dexterity is incredibly motivating,” commented the expert.

So far, Professor Takeuchi’s lab, namely the Biohybrid Systems Laboratory, has created walking mini-robots using biological muscle tissue, 3D-printed lab-grown meat, and repairable artificial skin.

“During previous research on a finger-shaped robot covered with artificial skin tissue that we grew in our lab, I felt the need for better adhesion between the features of the robot and the subcutaneous structure of the skin,” Takeuchi said in a press statement.

Examples

Reliable humanization of robots has been in development for years. Without going any further, America It was and is a robot designed for this purpose. Developed by the company Engineering art, a British robotics company, Ameca is not just a machine, but a glimpse into a future where robots and humans coexist harmoniously. It has a highly realistic human appearance, advanced movement capabilities and interaction powered by artificial intelligence (AI), designed to process natural language, recognize emotions and adapt its responses based on the context of the interaction.

Reference: