Have you been mesmerized and horrified by technology yet today?
Scientists at the Tokyo Institute of Technology created this nightmare-fuel to move less like a robot and more “creature-ish”–which, yeah, success. As the skeleton itself says, “My legs have almost the same number of muscles as human.” It brags about walking in place using OpenSim patterns and the help of an auxiliary instrument.
“I am trying something new every day,” it says, taking a bite of what looks like a Mac n’ Cheetos and kicking a basketball, two totally normal human activities.
The soft pneumatic filaments connect joints and stretch or contract like real muscles, but aren’t very strong, fast, or finely-controlled. Which is fine. All bodies are beautiful and terrifying in their own way.