STORY: :: Shoji Takeuchi Research Group at the University of Tokyo
This "smile" is part living skin tissue -- and part robot.
It's the product of a decade of research by scientists at the University of Tokyo.
It may look a little eerie...
But researchers say it could one day be used for testing cosmetics and medicine...
And is an important step in the quest to make more life-like robots.
:: Robots at work
:: Tokyo, Japan
To create the smiling robot, scientists grew human cells into the shape of a face.
The smile is produced from embedded ligament-like attachments that pull it into a wide grin.
Here's lead researcher Shoji Takeuchi.
:: Shoji Takeuchi, Lead researcher
"Until now, no one had figured out how to make the living skin move, so I think by attaching these actuators and anchors, it became possible to manipulate living skin for the first time. This is a new technology that we developed."
Takeuchi says living tissue has a number of advantages over metal and plastic, such as skin's ability to repair itself.
The hope is to add more features to the lab-grown skin, including a circulatory system and nerves.
Takeuchi says the work could potentially lead to safer testing for cosmetics and drugs.
Or, be used to cover robots one day.
One problem he still faces is the so-called "uncanny valley."
That's the unsettling feeling that comes when robots start to resemble humans a little too closely.
Takeuchi says he hopes to overcome it.
"Various things have been talked about to reduce the creepiness (of human-like robots), but I think one of the important matters is the materials. I think that making robots out of the exact same materials as humans and having them show the same expressions might be one key to overcoming the 'uncanny valley.'"
