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.'"

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Prosthetics

[phorm]

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.