Yeah, tactile stuff could be described as a dark data stream that only animals have access to. I'm talking about nerve endings. You can't get that wealth of data from any mix of sensors. Lidar and accelerometers can't tell cold from hot, lumpy from smooth.
Meanwhile, I watched a cat today jump off a 4 meter high trellis and onto the top of a 2 meter high fence rail no wider than my hand, and I thought, how can we not marvel at something that's obviously so much more advanced at navigating its environment than we are?
> lidar and accelerometers can't tell cold from hot, lumpy from smooth.
Not those. There are other sensors. Tactile sensors exist. Lumpy and smooth can be distinguished. They are still rudimentary, but there is nothing fundamental blocking progress here. Roughness, squishiness, temperature, all well measurable.