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A New Face For Robotics
tanmay writes "Android technology has moved a step forward with the creation of a high-tech polymer called 'f'rubber,' which resembles human skin. Its creator, David Hanson has implemented it in a robot called Hertz, as this report from CNN gives us the details. Another question that the report brings up is the need to make robots resemble humans. Ray Kurzweil thinks Hanson's work is significant because realistic facial movement will play an important role in the way future androids respond to humans, and has the following to say, 'Intelligence significantly below that of normal humans stands out more with a robot that looks strikingly human. This creates the impression of a human with impaired intelligence, which may strike some as disturbing.'"
More realistic seeming skin could be a bonus not only for robotics as in AI, but as in prosthetics.
Artificial limbs can be made to seem more lifelike with such substance, making them less obtrusive for those who use them.
I don't know why we have an obsession with having our robots look human! In terms of usefulness they would be better off being built in a manner that best suits their purpose, not trying to pretend they're something they're not.
Consider movies like Toy Story, where they have animated humans that they've tried to make look real... of course it's easy to tell that they are not real, and in fact they have an element of unreality and unbelievability about them. I would connect more with a straight cartoon character, where there is no attempt to make them look real then I would with something that is trying to be real, but isn't quite.
Part of the reason designers want human-like robots, is that it helps to mask their ineptness at particular skills. When you see something that is clearly artificial, you immediately summon up a set of presuppositions about their abilities and failings. A similar thing occurs when you go to a movie after being told it contains CGI: you look for any seeming artificiality, and attribute it to CGI (even if, as is often the case in some movies, its not CGI at all).
For robot designers, then, the goal is to prevent you from associating with their creations those same problems you already associate with artificial intelligence. Instead, they want you to be comfortable with it, but also forgiving in the same way you are with a child or otherwise intellectually lacking individual (assuming they're not an asshole).
Consider this: suppose, when checking in at the airport, you were greeted by a fembot that seemed entirely human externally. When you speak with her, you may eventually realize she's artificial (assuming you dont notice the dozen other, identical, fembots performing similar tasks for your fellow fliers) but at least at first you're going to forgive her more difficulty ("I'm sorry, could you repeat that?") than you might with a simple computer terminal.
Of course I'm neither a sociologist nor an engineer, so this is all my interpretation of the situation, as opposed to speaking first-hand.
That said, I think one of the coolest uses for this will be for prosthetics for humans: imagine if your false hand could look perfect, even if it doesn't move perfectly? Even more extreme, imagine if the fake skin covering a portion of your face (which is attached with careful glues/snaps/etc.) looked entirely realistic?
"Stumble before you crawl"