Scientists in Japan are giving robots a fleshy face and a smile

Engineers in Japan are trying to make robots imitate that very human expression: the smile.

They’ve made a face mask from human skin cells and attached it to robots with a new technique that hides the bond and is flexible enough to go down in a grimace or up in a soft smile.

The effect is a combination of Hannibal Lecter’s terrifying mask and the clay animation figure Gumby.

But scientists say the prototypes pave the way for more advanced robots, with an outer shell that is both elastic and durable enough to protect the machine while making it appear more human.

In addition to expressiveness, the “skin equivalent,” as the researchers call it, which is made in a laboratory from living skin cells, can cause scars and burns and also heal itself, the researchers said. a study published on June 25 in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science.

“Human-like faces and expressions enhance communication and empathy in human-robot interactions, making robots more effective in healthcare, service, and companionship roles,” Shoji Takeuchi, a professor at the University of Tokyo and lead researcher on the study, said in an email.

The research comes as robots are becoming increasingly ubiquitous on factory floors.

There were 3.9 million industrial robots working on automotive and electronics assembly lines and other work environments by 2022, according to the International Federation of Robotics.

A subset of the overall robot population includes so-called humanoids, machines designed with two arms and two legs that allow them to work in environments built for human workers, such as factories, as well as in hospitality, healthcare and education.

Carsten Heer, a spokesman for the federation, said that hominids are “an exciting area of ​​development” but that mass market adoption would be complex and could be limited by cost.

However, in October 2023, the Chinese government announced a target mass producing humanoids by 2025, which is predicted to significantly increase industrial productivity.

For decades, robotics engineers have experimented with materials, hoping to find something that could both protect a robot’s complex machinery and be soft and light enough for a wide range of applications.

If a robot’s surface gets scratched or nicked, it can lead to machine failure, making the ability to self-repair a “critical feature” for humanoid robots, the researchers said in the paper.

The new method of suturing the skin advances the emerging field of “biohybrid” robotics, which combines mechanical engineering with genetic and tissue engineering, said Kevin Lynch, director of the Center for Robotics and Biosystems at Northwestern University.

“This study is an innovative contribution to the problem of anchoring artificial skin to the underlying material,” said Professor Lynch, adding that “living skin could help us achieve the holy grail of self-healing skins in biohybrid robots.”

He added that the study does not address how the robots’ skin will heal itself without external support.

For such robots, the materials challenge extends to credibility: finding ways to infuse the machine with features that make it look and behave more like a human, such as the ability to laugh .

Scientists, including Professor Takeuchi and his colleagues from the University of Tokyo, have been working with laboratory-created human skin for years.

In 2022, the research team will developed a robotic finger covered in living skin, allowing the machine’s finger to bend like a human finger, giving it the tactility to potentially perform more precise tasks.

Professor Takeuchi’s team had tried anchoring the skin with tiny hooks, but these caused tears when the robot moved. So the team decided to mimic ligaments, the tiny strings of loose tissue that connect bones.

Team members drilled small, V-shaped holes in the robot and applied a collagen gel to them, closing the holes and attaching the artificial skin to the robot.

“This approach integrates traditional rigid robots with soft, biological skins, making them more ‘human-like,’” said Yifan Wang, an assistant professor in the school of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, who researches “soft robots” that mimic biological beings.

Skin bonding also gives a biohybrid robot the potential for sensation, bringing science one step closer to sci-fi fantasy.

“This could create opportunities for the robot to sense humans and communicate with them safely,” said Professor Wang.

The faces of the artificial-skinned robots in Professor Takeuchi’s lab do not have the ability to sense touch, temperature change or other external stimuli.

Professor Takeuchi said this is his next research goal.

“We aim to create skin that closely mimics the functionality of real skin by gradually creating essential components such as blood vessels, nerves, sweat glands, sebaceous glands and hair follicles,” he said.

Instead of the neural systems that transmit sensations in a human body, a robot’s electronics would have to control a sensor signal. According to Professor Wang, this development would take much more time and research.