Blade Runner-style 'replicants' are on the horizon

In the cult classic, Blade Runner, sophisticated androids made with organic body parts, known as'replicants', can match the strength and emotions of their human creators. And according to an expert, advances in soft robotics could see replicants, such as those seen in Blade Runner and the Terminator, become a reality. In an article for The Conversation, Fumiya Iida, a lecturer in mechatronics at the University of Cambridge looks at the future of building robots with human-like abilities. From a scientific point of view, the real challenge is replicating the complexity of the human body. Each one of us is made up of millions and millions of cells, and we have no clue how we can build such a complex machine that is indistinguishable from us humans.