'Slightly sweaty' robotic finger with living skin developed by experts in Japan. Photograph:( Twitter )
On bending, the natural-looking wrinkles form at the robotic finger. When it gets wounded, the skin can self-heal like humans’ with the help of a collagen bandage. It feels like normal skin but it is weaker and has to be kept moist, as per the scientists
In the near future, the world may witness robots with skin and similar movements. No, we are not kidding, it may become possible as a “slightly sweaty” robotic finger, which is covered with living skin, has already been developed by the Japanese scientists. This may help in achieving the never-seen-before feat of human-like robots. The finger seems to have been able to heal itself. This impressive technical feat, which has lifelike anatomy, may reduce the difference between living flesh and machine. But people may also find it creepy.
The study has been published in the journal ‘Matter’. “We are surprised by how well the skin tissue conforms to the robot’s surface. But this work is just the first step towards creating robots covered with living skin,” said Shoji Takeuchi, professor, University of Tokyo, who also led the work.
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“I think living skin is the ultimate solution to give robots the look and touch of living creatures since it is exactly the same material that covers animal bodies. Such advances had the potential to build a new relationship between humans and robots,” Takeuchi said.
The robotic finger was first submerged in a cylinder by the team. The container was filled with a solution made up from mixture of collagen and human dermal fibroblasts. These are the two main components, which make up the connective tissues of the skin. The surface of the finger got coated with this substance to ensure the next layer of cells called human epidermal keratinocytes can stick to it.
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On bending, the natural-looking wrinkles form at the finger. When it gets wounded, the skin can self-heal like humans’ with the help of a collagen bandage. It feels like normal skin but it is weaker and has to be kept moist, as per the scientists.
“The finger looks slightly sweaty straight out of the culture medium. Since the finger is driven by an electric motor, it is also interesting to hear the clicking sounds of the motor in harmony with a finger that looks just like a real one,” said Takeuchi.
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