Robots could very soon start feeling physically when touched by any other object. It could very well happen in the future that a hard pinch on a robots arm could make it feel the hurt physically, replicating chemical reactions in human brains.
A team of scientists from the University of Pittsburg and Massachusetts Institute of Technology have found a material, Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) gel, that swings back and forth in an uninterrupted rhythm.
The scientist proved that the material pulsated in the absence of stimuli. They demonstrated that the gel could be made to react or pulsate as per desire through mechanical pressure beyond the critical limits.
"Think of it like human skin, which can provide signals to the brain that something on the body is deformed or hurt. This gel has numerous far-reaching applications, such as artificial skin that could be sensory -- a holy grail in robotics," said Anna Balazs, professor of chemical and petroleum engineering in Swanson School of Engineering, Pittsburg, according to the Science Daily.
Balazs said it was her fascination towards the mimosa plant that folds inwards at the touch of an object and opening up a couple minutes later that helped her consider putting life into objects.
