Japanese scientists create robot with creepy human-like smile, self-healing skin

In a shocking yet significant development, scientists in Japan have found a method to attach living skin to robot faces, which gives them the ability to smile like humans and copy other facial expressions.

According to the team at Tokyo University, the breakthrough came from copying tissue structures in people and the artificial skin was made in the lab with the usage of living cells.

The team said that they created a 3D facial mold and a 2D skin robot, which is covered with artificial living skin.

Although very strange to witness a flesh like thing smiling creepily but this development has blurred the line between science and science fiction. The scientists said that not only is this thing very soft, like real skin, but it can also repair itself if cut.

While the prototype does not look entirely like a human yet, the Japanese team said that it paves the way to making convincingly realistic, moving humanoids with self-healing skin. The artificial skin was made while keeping in mind the characteristics and workings of the real organs of humans.

With this robot, scientists have aimed to find a way to make robots more like actual humans and the smile thing is seen as a successful achievement.

[caption id="attachment_72638" align="aligncenter" width="375"] PC - Cell Reports Physical Science[/caption] According to the reports, the team also attempted to use hooks and anchors to attach it to the prototype, but that resulted in damaging the so-called ‘skin’ when the robot moved or tried to smile.

To achieve this thing, the team drilled little holes into the robot following which they applied a gel which had collagen and then applied an artificial skin on top of it.

The lead researcher of this development, Professor Shoji Takeuchi, said that by mimicking human skin ligament structures and by utilizing specially made V-shaped perforations into solid materials, his team found a way to bind skin to complex structures. However, scientists said that this is just an initial step and a lot more testing and experimentation is required to make this illusion turn into a reality. The team now strives to create human like expressions by integrating sophisticated muscles, actuators inside this robot.