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Chinese scientists have developed a robot that can carry out vital tasks using an artificial brain made from human stem cells.
According to the researchers, the brain chip was able to learn basic tasks such as moving limbs, avoiding obstacles and grasping objects, while exhibiting some of the intelligent functions of a biological brain.
A research team from Tianjin University and Southern University of Science and Technology has fitted a brain-computer interface to a lab-grown brain, enabling it to communicate with the outside world.
“Brain-computer interface on a chip is a technology that combines an in vitro-cultured ‘brain’, such as a cerebral organoid, with an electrode chip to realize information interaction with the outside world through encoding and decoding and stimulation feedback,” said Ming Dong, executive director of the Haihe Brain-Computer Interaction and Human-Computer Integration Laboratory at Tianjin University.
To function, brain organoids need to meet similar requirements as the human brain, including fluids, nutrition lines, temperature control, and a protective case.
The researchers claimed that the emerging field of brain-on-a-chip technology could help develop hybrid intelligence and have a “revolutionary impact”.
This latest achievement comes just days after Japanese scientists announced they had grafted live human skin onto the face of a humanoid robot to give it a more human-like appearance.
A research team from the University of Tokyo has succeeded in making a robot smile by incorporating a skin ligament structure into artificial skin tissue.
The researchers said that living skin could provide not only human-like emotions, but also enhanced sensing abilities and the ability to heal itself if injured.
