Japanese researchers have developed a method to integrate living skin tissue onto robotic faces, enabling them to exhibit a 'smile,' marking a significant advancement with potential applications in both cosmetics and medical fields.
Scientists at the University of Tokyo cultivated human skin cells into a facial shape and induced a broad smile using embedded, ligament-like structures. Lead researcher Shoji Takeuchi highlighted the importance of this development in creating more lifelike robots. 'By incorporating these actuators and anchors, we achieved the first manipulation of living skin,' Takeuchi explained. The research, published in Cell Reports Physical Science, represents a decade of work by Takeuchi and his team on merging biological and artificial systems.
Takeuchi noted that living tissue offers several benefits over traditional materials like metals and plastics, including energy efficiency and self-repair capabilities. The team plans to enhance the lab-grown skin with additional components such as a circulatory system and nerves, which could facilitate safer testing environments for skin-absorbed cosmetics and drugs, and enhance the realism and functionality of robotic coverings.
However, the researchers acknowledge the lingering eeriness associated with robots that closely mimic humans without fully convincing observers. Takeuchi suggests that using human-like materials and expressions in robots could be a solution to bridge the uncanny valley.
