“They look human… sweat, bad breath, everything” (Kyle Reese, Terminator)
Main point: “…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.”
More about it:
- “…researchers have successfully coated a three-jointed, functioning robot finger with a prototype of this lab-grown skin.”
- “…the artificial skin can also be healed with a collagen bandage.”
- “…the lab-grown tissue is still very limited. It cannot last long outside its nutrient solution – just like our skin, it requires a consistent supply of water to avoid drying out, but the artificial skin layers lack the complicated components of circulatory and sweat gland systems to supply such hydration.”
Why it matters:
- “…making robots appear more human will help us relate to and like them more, so they can better communicate with us, serving in the medical, care, and service industries.”
- “…show the potential of a paradigm shift from traditional robotics to the new scheme of biohybrid robotics that leverage the advantages of both living materials and artificial materials.”
More to come: Since the article was published, researchers are also working on making the skin more durable.