At present, the robot chameleon developed by the researcher is a little larger than the real thing. However, with their initial study complete, the team are hoping to be able to scale down the design. In addition, the team are looking to give the robot the ability to reflect the textures of background surfaces with greater resolution, a feat they say may be attainable with advances in signal processing and data-driven science. The full findings of the study were published in the journal Nature Communications. 'The ultimate form of this application will be an invisibility cloak -- by blending into the background,' said paper author and mechanical engineer Seung Hwan Ko of the Seoul National University in South Korea.

Now, scientists have taken inspiration from such creatures, replicating their colour-changing abilities with artificial electronic skin. Their incredible material could be used in a variety of ways in the future, including in robotics, prosthetics and wearable technology used by armed forces. The material is made from graphene - a form of pure carbon that is 200 times stronger than steel. Two layers of graphene are included - a highly-resistive strain sensor, alongside a stretchable organic electrochromic device (ECD) that changes colour when a current is applied. While other colour-changing materials require enormous strain of 100-500 per cent to change colour, the researchers found that subtle strain - between zero and 10 per cent - was enough to cause an obvious colour change.

Our ability to spot social signals may have changed the way we see colour, new research has found. The light receptors in our eyes are well-adapted to spot key social colour-changes, such as a blushing or angry face. These emotions can change facial blood-flow, forcing a subtle colour change that we have evolved to spot - an adaptation that allows humans to predict behaviour. The researchers found that human eyes are so good at spotting these colour changes that they can accurately read the facial mating signals of a female macaque monkey better than a digital camera. Our ability to spot social signals may have changed the way we see colour, new research has found.