Scientists Are Testing How to Put ‘Living Skin’ On Robot Faces, With Nightmarish Results – IGN

Have you ever wondered what it might look like if a robot ripped off your face, carefully smoothed it onto its unfeeling exoskeleton, and then looked back at you with a bone chilling smile that makes you wonder how humanity has strayed so far from all that is good and right? Well, you need wonder no longer!

In a newly published study, scientists from the University of Tokyo teamed up to figure out how to attach engineered living skin tissue made of biological cells to the face of a humanoid robot. Their goal is to pave the way for a future in which robots can be coated in self-repairing, synthetic skin that could allow them to sense, and generally give them a more lifelike appearance.

“During previous research on a finger-shaped robot covered in engineered skin tissue we grew in our lab, I felt the need for better adhesion between the robotic features and the subcutaneous structure of the skin,” said professor ShojiTakeuchi of the University of Tokyo, who led the new study appearing in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science.

Earlier attempts to attach synthetic skin to surfaces had relied on hooks, or anchors to adhere the material to a robot’s face. For the new study, the researchers took a different approach, by instead opting to make tiny v-shaped perforations in the faceplate material that the skin could be attached to using a collagen gel with the aid of a process known as ‘plasma treatment’.

To test their approach, the team stuck ‘living skin’ to a 3D humanoid robot face, and to a flattened version with moving parts, which could be manipulated to make the face ‘smile’, without tearing, or peeling away from the underlying structure. Both faces were, unfortunately, utterly nightmarish to behold, bordering on cursed — an aesthetic that wasn’t helped by the glassy, lifeless eyes starting out from the experimental visages.

“In this study, we managed to replicate human appearance to some extent by creating a face with the same surface material and structure as humans,” said Takeuchi. The scientists believe that it could be possible to create a more realistic form of synthetic skin by including structural elements like pores, glands, fat, and even nerves.

Researchers have found a way to bind engineered skin tissue to the complex forms of humanoid robots. #UTokyoResearch #robotics #bioengineering https://t.co/sRfebItIml pic.twitter.com/iM2WSqjM5H

— UTokyo | 東京大学 (@UTokyo_News_en) June 25, 2024

“Of course, movement is also a crucial factor, not just the material, so another important challenge is creating humanlike expressions by integrating sophisticated actuators, or muscles, inside the robot,” explained Takeuchi. “Creating robots that can heal themselves, sense their environment more accurately and perform tasks with humanlike dexterity is incredibly motivating.”

The researchers also hope that the research could one day be used in multiple fields of research, and could aid in the testing of surgical procedures, plastic surgery, cosmetics, and more. For more robot news, why not read up on Boston Dynamics’ all electric and extraordinarily flexible Atlas robot, which was revealed earlier this year, or find out about the flamethrower equipped robot dog known as the Thermonator, which thankfully has not yet been outfitted with ‘living skin’.

Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer