Touch

When someone injures a nerve in a body part such as a finger, it's not uncommon for that part to end up with a permanently decreased sense of touch. A self-powered implantable sensor, however, could one day restore sensitivity to such injured areas.

There are now a number of materials designed to give robots or prostheses a sense of touch. And while most of them are thin and skin-like, a new alternative takes the form of a spongey foam – and it combines several desirable qualities.

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.

When we pick up an object, we can adjust our grip if that object proves to be a slippery customer. ETH researchers have developed a sensor that could help robot grippers to do the same.

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 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.

Scientists have added tactile sensors to a prosthetic leg, allowing users to walk with much less effort.

​If you were trying to remotely operate a robotic hand, it would certainly makes things easier if you could feel what it was touching. Such a system was demonstrated this week at the Amazon re:MARS Tech Showcase, utilizing technology from three separate companies.

​It was just last year that we heard about the Fundamental Surgery simulator, which utilizes dual haptic feedback arms to provide the "feel" of performing various surgical procedures. The system has now been taken a step further, with the demonstrated integration of whole-hand VR gloves.