(Tokyo) Japanese scientists have succeeded in making a robot smile “naturally” from human cells, a technological revolution since androids are generally covered with silicone skin that cannot sweat or heal.
The University of Tokyo researchers shared their findings Monday in a study published in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science, and also released a video showing the robots displaying a realistic, yet frightening, smile.
To recreate a “natural smile,” they gelatinized human tissue and attached it inside the robot’s holes, a method inspired by real ligaments in human skin.
The experts hope “that this technology will help us better understand the formation of wrinkles and the physiology of facial expressions, and that it will contribute to the development of transplantation materials and cosmetic products,” said the team led by professor of mechanical informatics Shoji Takeuchi.
Their goal, even if they have not yet completely achieved it, will ultimately be to endow them with the “inherent self-healing capabilities” of human skin.
In previous studies, they grafted collagen onto laboratory-grown skin with a cut, affixed to a robotic finger. The goal was to demonstrate how it could heal itself.
