# Robots Get Skin That "Feels" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 6, 2004, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robots-get-skin-that-feels/253869 "2004-07-06T23:32:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2004, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robots-get-skin-that-feels/253869/1 "2004-07-06T23:32:49Z")
[Perhaps a step towards sex bots?](http://www.nature.com/nsu/040628/040628-14.html) > [@](#): > > Robots are about to get more feeling. An electronic skin as sensitive to touch as our own is being developed by scientists in Japan. > > “Recognition of tactile information will be very important for future generations of robots,” says Takao Someya at the University of Tokyo who developed the skin. A sense of touch would help them to identify objects, carry out delicate tasks and avoid collisions. But while a lot of effort has gone into vision and voice recognition for robots, touch sensitivity is still fairly rudimentary. [Bender]You’ve got metal fever, boy![/Bender] ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robots-get-skin-that-feels/253869/2 "2004-07-07T02:57:58Z")
Sadly, the robots still have no noses. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robots-get-skin-that-feels/253869/3 "2004-07-07T03:01:18Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > [Bender]You’ve got metal fever, boy![/Bender] People will think you’re robosexual. ---
**Author:** ![Pentax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/dc4da7/32.png) [@Pentax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pentax)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robots-get-skin-that-feels/253869/4 "2004-07-07T03:11:46Z")
I better start saving my pennies, and buy one the day it comes out, but by that time, I will be too old to enjoy it. I’m sure the beneficiaries of my will would appreciate it if I left my sex robot to them. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robots-get-skin-that-feels/253869/5 "2004-07-07T03:15:51Z")
The one thing no-one ever explains in these kind of threads is, _who’s gonna clean the sexbots_? ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robots-get-skin-that-feels/253869/6 "2004-07-07T03:18:07Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > The one thing no-one ever explains in these kind of threads is, _who’s gonna clean the sexbots_? Well don’t you think that it’d be a simple matter to program them so that they clean themselves? (Remember they could be made more flexible than a human being, so they could do it cat-like.) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robots-get-skin-that-feels/253869/7 "2004-07-07T03:26:51Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > (Remember they could be made more flexible than a human being, so they could do it cat-like.) Can I get an “ick” here, people? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robots-get-skin-that-feels/253869/8 "2004-07-07T03:27:25Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > …they could do it cat-like… Aaack. Now _there’s_ an image I’m gonna have a hard time getting out of my brain. …although I could see how some might like it as a fetish… :: twitch :: I was imagining a disposable inner liner or something. Which would still be an unpleasant job to remove and replace. If there was a very advanced technology of nano-scale membrane construction and selective sequestration, the sexbot’s internal membranes could clean themselves by capturing and removing all substances from the previous encounter, and then lay down a fresh coat of lubricant. This would also be a good way to capture DNA samples for forensic analysis. ---
**Author:** ![Pentax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/dc4da7/32.png) [@Pentax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pentax)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robots-get-skin-that-feels/253869/9 "2004-07-07T03:31:10Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > The one thing no-one ever explains in these kind of threads is, _who’s gonna clean the sexbots_? There are two of them … They Clean each other … Naked … In a bubble bath ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robots-get-skin-that-feels/253869/10 "2004-07-07T03:35:11Z")
> [@Pentax](#): > > There are two of them … They Clean each other … Naked … In a bubble bath… Why didn’t I think of that? Clearly I’m not perverse enough. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robots-get-skin-that-feels/253869/11 "2004-07-07T03:37:57Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > Can I get an “ick” here, people? > [@Sunspace](#): > > Aaack. Now there’s an image I’m gonna have a hard time getting out of my brain. Aaah, a mind is such a beatiful thing to scar! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robots-get-skin-that-feels/253869/12 "2004-07-07T03:48:44Z")
:: shika shika shika :: (That’s then sound of sandpaper on the inside of my skull…) ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robots-get-skin-that-feels/253869/13 "2004-07-07T04:47:15Z")
I wrote an [essay on the problems with designing sex bots](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&q=%22The+Trouble+With+Robobabes%22&btnG=Search) follow the link and you can read it, but it’s got some R-rated illos. My problem with the article in question is not that it’s so important for the robot to feel as humans do, though undoubtedly that would be a good thing. The real key would be to make a skin that felt human to the touch of other humans. By all accounts, Real Dolls (google the term if you’re interested, there’s also a link in my essay) have come pretty close in the respect, though I’ve never touched one myself. As for self-cleaning, I wrote a bit in my Jetta 3000 story that had a robobabe going to the bathroom after serving her master, and ejecting her mouth and vagina units for cleaning in the sink, which she did by hand. Would make a KILLER scene in a movie. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robots-get-skin-that-feels/253869/14 "2004-07-07T06:02:05Z")
ahem… **Sadly, the robots still have no noses.** Looking for the follow-up line here people! ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robots-get-skin-that-feels/253869/15 "2004-07-07T16:32:43Z")
> [@Evil Captor](#): > > As for self-cleaning, I wrote a bit in my Jetta 3000 story that had a robobabe going to the bathroom after serving her master, and **ejecting her mouth and vagina units for cleaning in the sink** , which she did by hand. Would make a KILLER scene in a movie. Grandma?! ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robots-get-skin-that-feels/253869/16 "2004-07-07T17:51:01Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > ahem… > > **Sadly, the robots still have no noses.** > > Looking for the follow-up line here people! So obviously they smell terrible! ---
**Author:** ![emekthian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecae2f/32.png) [@emekthian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emekthian)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robots-get-skin-that-feels/253869/17 "2004-07-07T17:54:03Z")
I always imagined that sexbots would go into some kind of recharge/cleaning station when not being used, sort of like the ones for those electric razors. ---
**Author:** ![Shaolinrabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Shaolinrabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shaolinrabbit)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robots-get-skin-that-feels/253869/18 "2004-07-07T18:03:02Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > This would also be a good way to capture DNA samples for forensic analysis. In the future, Little Sister may be f\*\*\*ing you, while Big Brothr is watching. 😉 As for cleaning themselves like cats… meow, baby, _meow_. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robots-get-skin-that-feels/253869/19 "2004-07-07T18:30:57Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > So obviously they smell terrible! :::sigh::: You just ruin everything. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2004, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robots-get-skin-that-feels/253869/20 "2004-07-07T20:11:38Z")
> [@Evil Captor](#): > > I wrote an [essay on the problems with designing sex bots](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&q=%22The+Trouble+With+Robobabes%22&btnG=Search) That essay has convinced me that you are not simply and obsessed pervert. You are an obsessed pervert with research and critical thinking skills. By Og, one of us! > [@](#): > > As for self-cleaning, I wrote a bit in my Jetta 3000 story that had a robobabe going to the bathroom after serving her master, and ejecting her mouth and vagina units for cleaning in the sink, which she did by hand. Would make a KILLER scene in a movie. I agree. Heck, have women getting the same units implanted as cosmetic surgery and you’ve got a Gibson novel on your hands. Or in the sink. BTW- I recommend Stainslau Lem’s Cyberiad. One of the stories deals with the question of when a simulation becomes indistiguishable from the real thing (though the story deals with giving a tyrant a kingdom of simulated subjects rather than robobabes) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robots-get-skin-that-feels/253869.md?page=2)