A team of researchers in Japan (and where else?) Is working on one synthetic leather which could help robots empathize with humans.
A research team from Osaka University in Japan is working on an artificial skin that may one day help robots "feel" pain. Who knows if the invention does not contribute to give a little soul to objects like these.
Seppure al momento i veri robot “sensibili al tatto” siano lontani, questa ricerca segna un importante passo in avanti per renderli realtà. La tecnologia funziona incorporando sensori in una pelle morbida e artificiale in grado di rilevare il tatto, dallo sfioramento gentile a sensazioni più “dolorose”, come essere colpiti.
Announced at the annual meeting ofAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science, robots with this skin could potentially signal emotions.
Artificial skin, real empathy
Minoru Asada, a member of the research team, says this small development could ultimately lead to robots feeling pain like real people. He calls it an artificial "painful nervous system".
If successful, it is hoped that this will help robots understand emotional and physical pain like humans.
The Japanese team has already developed a creepy-looking robotic head that can change facial expressions in response to tactile and painful cues from synthetic skin. It has an Italian name, “Affetto”, and can reliably capture a range of tactile sensations. Take a look.
A future of better robots
According to the neuroscientist Kingson Man University of South California, this development could enable richer interaction between machines and the world in the future. Soft, sensitive skin should allow for the “Ability to interact in more versatile and empathic ways”.
Asada spera che questo sviluppo possa aprire la porta all’apprendimento nei robot, per far loro riconoscere meglio il dolore negli umani. Sarebbe un’abilità di vitale importanza per i robot progettati per aiutare gli altri, come gli anziani.
Not just skin: the robot does not have enough sensations, it needs feelings
"There is an important distinction between a robot that responds in a predictable way to a painful stimulus and a robot that can approximate an internal feeling", says Antonio Damasio, neuroscienziato all’Università South California. In a recent article, lui e Man sostengono che se i robot fossero programmati per sperimentare uno stato mentale del dolore, non solo fisico, allora potrebbe davvero sorgere un “sentimento artificiale.
Robots with touch sensors that detect touch and pain are "like having a robot that smiles when you talk to it," he says Antonio Damasio. "They are devices for communication between a machine and a human being." Although this is an interesting development, "is not the same thing" of a robot designed to develop a kind of internal experience, he added.
