The Next Big Thing: Artificial Skin That Can Feel Pain

This disruptive technology creates the feeling of pain in robots.

Researchers have created an artificial skin that is capable of reacting to pain just like real human skin. The goal is to improve on prosthetics, allow for better alternatives to skin grafts, and even to “augment or compensate human skin for the development of realistic humanoids,”[…]

No technology has been able to create a feeling of pain until now. When heat, cold, or pressure reaches a painful threshold, this artificial skin will react instantly. So this artificial skin will know the difference between gently touching a sharp knife or cutting yourself with it. This is the first time this distinction has been made electronically.

Lead researcher Professor Madhu Bhaskaran said the pain-sensing prototype was a significant advance towards next-generation biomedical technologies and intelligent robotics.

“Skin is our body’s largest sensory organ, with complex features designed to send rapid-fire warning signals when anything hurts,” Bhaskaran said.

“We’re sensing things all the time through the skin but our pain response only kicks in at a certain point, like when we touch something too hot or too sharp.”

This will be a huge breakthrough for people using prosthetics and the future development of robots. Because who doesn’t want their robots to feel pain? Right?

Read more about wearable robots that are in development here.

Click here to check out the story at Futurism

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