Meta develops new technology that gives robots human-like touch [Video]

Meta is betting big on the emerging field of embodied AI by incorporating the sense of touch and feel to its robotic innovations. The technology giant is collaborating with US-based sensor company GelSight and South Korean robotics firm Wonik Robotics to commercialize tactile sensors for AI. The new devices are not designed for consumers; instead, they are aimed at scientists.

In this regard, Meta has released three research artifacts—Sparsh, Digit 360, and Digit Plexus—focusing on touch perception, robot dexterity, and human-robot interaction. Additionally, the company is introducing PARTNR, a new benchmark for assessing planning and reasoning in human-robot collaboration.

Robots to handle tasks that require reasoning

The new advancements are based on a renewed optimism in the industry that foundation models, including large language models (LLMs) and …