Japanese scientists have developed a method to attach living skin cells to robotic faces and make them “smile,” a development that offers promise for uses in cosmetics and health.
Researchers at the University of Tokyo produced human skin cells in the shape of a face and manipulated them with ligament-like attachments to form a wide grin.
The results, while unnerving, are an essential step toward developing more lifelike robots, according to lead researcher Shoji Takeuchi.
“By attaching these actuators and anchors, it became possible to manipulate living skin for the first time,” the scientist said.
The smiling robot, which was featured in a study published online last month by Cell Reports Physical Science, is the result of Takeuchi and his lab’s decade-long research into how to best blend biological and artificial technology.
Takeuchi claimed that living tissue offers various advantages over metals and plastics, ranging from brain and muscle energy efficiency to skin’s ability to regenerate itself.
Read: Bezos and Nvidia join OpenAI to support humanoid robot startup.
In the future, the researchers plan to incorporate more features into the lab-grown skin, such as a cardiovascular system and nerves. This could lead to safer testing methods for cosmetics and medications absorbed through the skin.
It could also create more lifelike and practical robot coverings. Still, there is the challenge of freeing humans from the weird or unsettling sentiments elicited by computers that fall just short of being completely convincing.
“There’s still a bit of that creepiness to it,” Takeuchi said. “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.”
