2024-12-08 15:00:00
Imagine a humanoid robot with a human face, literally and figuratively, that is, a robot as real as life, with very living skin. It is indeed the feat of Japanese researchers, who in the laboratory have ”cultivated” skin from living cells, to be applied on the “face” of an android, which thus benefits from all the elasticity of the human epidermis to reproduce realistic facial expressions. .Their work was published in June in the journal The cell brings back physical science. this actual skin tissue grown with ligaments can not only deform, but also self-repair.
the realism of future humanoid robots’ skin, if not flesh and blood, may allow them to be better accepted by humans… unless they’re quite scared of them. This is called the “disturbing valley” effect («mysterious valley», in english),which,in robotics and animation,refers to the negative emotional reaction of humans towards robots or objects that almost,but not quite,resemble them.
The Chinese company Ex Robots, based in Panjin (north-east of Beijing), develops humanoid robots to which it applies a patented silicone skin. This is therefore not natural, but derives from a chemical composition (polymer), which still gives realistic skin. The company’s robots are then presented as capable of doing so “expressing emotions” and have “facial reactions”. Between increasingly advanced mechatronics (the mechanical-electronic-computer alliance), incredible skin shells and artificial brains doped with artificial intelligence, the race for next-generation androids is now very real.
Assistance and disguise
But beware of jokes or scams! During his We, Robot Day on October 10 in Los Angeles, the head of the electric car manufacturer Tesla, Elon Musk, proudly showed off prototypes of his humanoid robot Optimus, which is supposed to be autonomous. At first glance,they are capable of serving drinks,walking the dog or taking care of children. Except there was a deception: the models presented where actually remotely assisted by humans.Ex Robots also fooled its world: During the World Robotics Conference held in Beijing from August 21 to 27, the Chinese company created a stir by fooling its visitors with so-called larger-than-life humanoid robots. They were in fact women disguised as robots, but their appearance was deceptive.