“We are devising new kinds of actuators to drive soft robots based on magnetorheological elastomers (MREs)—smart materials embedded with ferromagnetic nanoparticles that change their physical and mechanical properties when a magnetic field is applied,” says Peizhi Zhang, a Ph.D. candidate in Waseda’s Graduate Program for Embodiment Informatics, which served as a foundation for the university’s Information Communications and Technology (ICT) and Robotics Model Unit. “These robots have soft bodies, making them safe to interact with humans.”