If you needed anything to fuel your quaking, sweat-soaked night terrors, folks, have I got a trigger for you:
Japanese scientists have found a way to attach living skin to robot faces, for more realistic smiles and other facial expressions.
The breakthrough came from copying tissue structures in people, according to the team at Tokyo University.
Here's a photo to prepare you for the nightmare fuel that follows:
Now for the nightmare fuel:
Imagine waking up to see this robot at the foot of your bed:
As awful as it is, the engineering behind it is pretty impressive, particularly how the scientists attach the skin to the robot faces:
The team tried using mini hooks as anchors - but those damaged the skin as the robot moved.
In people, the skin is tethered to underlying structures by ligaments - tiny ropes of flexible collagen and elastane.
To recreate that, the researchers drilled lots of little holes into the robot and applied a gel containing collagen, and then the layer of artificial skin on top.
The gel plugs the holes and tethers the skin to the robot.
Can't wait to see version 2.0 of this skin!
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