Electronic skin

There are currently a number of groups developing touch-sensitive electronic skin for robots. Scientists at Cornell University are pursuing a simpler approach, however, using shadow-imaging cameras to let robots know when they're being touched.

Although we've already heard about pressure-sensitive "skins" that could be applied to robotic appendages, scientists have created one for use on human fingers. And while you might wonder why they bothered, it actually has an interesting application.

Researchers in Australia have succeeded in developing an artificial skin that responds to painful stimuli, heat and pressure like real skin does, which they see as an important step towards intelligent machines and prosthetics.

Many of us now keep tabs on how we're doing by wearing health and fitness trackers, which run on batteries. Researchers from Caltech have developed an electronic skin that can be packed with sensors, and that's powered by the sweat of its wearer.

Skin-worn flexible electronics show great promise, in applications ranging from health monitoring to gesture control. The devices could soon also be more eco-friendly, as scientists have recently developed a method of making them from fish scales.

Medicine, soft robotics and wearable electronics are just a few of the fields that could benefit from a new hydrogel that's applied to the body. The transparent material can sense when it's being touched, bent, heated, or otherwise manipulated.

Although VR tech may allow users to see and hear computer-generated environments, the extent to which people can feel those worlds is still quite limited. That could be about to change, though, thanks to what's being called an "epidermal VR" system.

A number of groups have already developed so-called "electronic skin," which adds electronic functionality to a user's natural skin. A new magnetic take on the technology, however, does away with the need for integrated electronics and power sources.

It's not uncommon for us humans to communicate via pokes and other skin-on-skin gestures. Could the same thing work for communicating with devices? It turns out that if you give those gadgets a coating of "Skin-On" artificial skin, the answer is Yes.

A human-sized robot has been equipped with 1,260 cells to create what is claimed to be the first autonomous humanoid robot with artificial skin covering its entire body.

A new "artificial skin" simulates a sense of touch via tiny air bladders.

Whether they're in airplane wings, bridges or other critical structures, cracks can cause catastrophic failure before they're large enough to be noticed by the human eye. A strain-sensing "skin" applied to such objects could help, though, by lighting up when exposed to laser light.