The artificial skin that allows robots to feel

Robots are able to exert forces that could seriously injure a human being, so employers need to ensure they are aware of their surroundings and able to navigate around people. "Touch enables safe robot operation, by detecting contact with unseen obstacles and giving the possibility to apply the correct force for achieving a task, without damaging objects, people and the robot itself," Chiara Bartolozzi, a robotics expert at the Italian Institute of Technology, independent of the research, tells CNN Business. Not only could this special skin make collaboration between humans and robots safer, it could also enable the future of robots as caregivers, health workers and companions. To develop the synthetic skin, the researchers began by studying humans. Each person has about 5 million skin receptors that register what's happening on the body's surface and send signals to the brain.