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"Everyone knows robots are cool and useful, but they can also be creepy. Part of the reason is, even if the robot has a reasonable facsimile of the human face, they tend to be cool to the touch, sometimes even harsh. Now one Canadian engineer is designing a way for robots to not just mimic the expressions of humans but also simulate their warm skin.\nEmil Petriu of the University of Ottawa decided to look to biology rather than robotics when he set out to build his life-like android. The most important part is a biology-inspired artificial skin, which has sensors that not only sense contact but can also discern temperature and the elasticity of the surface. So if the sensor detects it's touching something 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit and soft, then it's probably a person, and the robot can react accordingly.\nOn the other side of the touch, the human will feel a warm and soft surface as well, thanks to tubes within the artificial skin that circulate hot water. Also part of the design: an anatomically correct simulation of a human skull, which moves realistically thanks to an elaborate set of artificial motors and a spring-loaded jaw. The skull will be covered in the elastic skin, with the aimed result to create a life-like face.\nPetriu's method is novel: He's starting with a bulky, mechanical bot and replacing its parts, one by one, with more human-like appendages, starting with the head and hands. The whole thing sounds a little like transforming C-3PO from Star Wars into Data from Star Trek.\nPetriu should proceed with caution, however, if research into human-robot interactions is any indication. There have been many human-resembling robots created (mainly in Japan), and a recurring problem is that humans respond better to robots the more life-like they are \u2014 to a point. Once the android starts to closely resemble an actual person, humans respond negatively, apparently because they start to notice the robot's subtle differences from a person (lack of body language, for one) more than its similarities. The phenomenon is known as the \"uncanny valley\" (seen below).\n\n\nStill Petriu appears confident his research could lead to androids that would be useful in numerous fields, like nursing and home care. Petriu told the CBC that he also sees life-like robots being a way to hang onto human connection in our increasingly \"disconnected\" world that socializes virtually.\n\"Our society is becoming more and more disconnected,\" he says. \"We are, after all, still social beings.\"\nDo you think the idea of an android companion that keeps you company while you chat with friends on Facebook and Google+ has merit? Maybe the robot could even be tied into those services somehow, providing a kind of avatar for the people you connect with.\nWhat other possibilities are there? Get creative in the comments.\nBONUS: 10 Amazing Real-Life Robots\n\n\nAwesome Robots\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n1. The Cubinator\n\nWe met The Cubinator for the first time at the 2010 World Maker Faire. The robot currently holds the Guinness world record for fastest machine solve of a Rubik's cube. Pete Redmond, who developed the robot for the final project of his master's degree, says that its solve time averages about 25 seconds. Webcams in the robot's eyes detect the colors on the cube and the machine solves the puzzle by using an algorithm to find the fewest moves. It also has has a sense of humor, shouting \"oh dear!\" when it occasionally drops the cube.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n2. Seaswarm\n\nEven though the environmental effects of the Gulf oil spill may not be as bad as we initially feared, we can probably all agree that the oil didn't do the environment any favors. A team from MIT developed a fleet of robots that could clean up more efficiently in the future. The robots are equipped with a nanomaterial that can absorb 20 times their weight in oil. Each machine communicates with the other machines via GPS and Wi-Fi \"to create an organized system for collection that can work continuously without human support.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n3. Mint\n\nMaybe there are a few people out there who genuinely enjoy sweeping and mopping floors, but the rest of us want this robot. Mint determines its location using \"indoor GPS\" and creates a map of the space as it cleans. For $250 you can get rid of your housekeeper. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n4. Snackbot\n\nA team at Carnegie Mellon University developed Snackbot to \"support research into robust autonomous operation in office environments.\" We're pretty sure that's code for, \"We could build a robot that delivers snacks, so why wouldn't we?\" Research will allow the robot to navigate through congested areas in a socially acceptable fashion, detect individual people moving near it, recognize when someone that the it knows approaches, and autonomously learn to recognize new objects.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n5. Emergency Integrated Lifesaving Lanyard - E.M.I.L.Y. \nBaywatch is about to become even more unrealistic. EMILY, the robot lifeguard, isn't much to look at, but PopSci reports that it made 77,192 rescues last year. The current model is remote controlled, but a fully autonomous EMILY that uses a sonar device to scan for underwater movements will be available next spring.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n6. Neil and Iona\n\nCreated by Jason Van Anden in 1996, Neil and Iona are considered elderly among working robots, but they were still spry and relevant enough to tour this year with the San Jose Museum of Art. The robots remain intriguing because of their ability to change expression, use body language and create \"strangely endearing sounds.\" Frankly, they're cute. This mini documentary explains their creation.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n7. KiRo/ StarKick\n\nYou've probably played chess against a computer before, but table soccer? This robot uses a camera to perceive the playing field and then decides how the rods under its control should be moved. Originally developed at the Institute for Computer Science of the University of Freiburg, the robot is now sold as a game called StarKick.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n8. Snakebot\n\nAnother project at Carnegie Mellon University, the Snakebot uses its \"many internal degrees of freedom to thread through tightly packed volumes.\" In other words, it moves like a snake. It can coordinate the movements of its parts to swim, crawl, and even climb a tree.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n9. DepthX\n\nDepthX is a collaborative project designed to create an underwater robot that can map three-dimensional spaces like flooded caverns and mines. The machine will first explore the deepest flooded sink hole in the world, the Zacat\u00F3n Cenote in central Mexico.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n10. DOMO\n\nDOMO was the doctoral work of Aaron Edsinger at MIT. The ultimate cool robot, it can accomplish tasks like making a drink, helping with chores, tracking an object and interacting with people. Watch DOMO in action here.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2012/01/23/canadian-engineer-builds-android/>