Scientists develop artificial skin for smartphones and computers

A group of scientists has developed a kind of artificial skin, with sensors that can recognize touch and pressure. The artificial skin could be used, among other things, as a smartphone cover, which provides additional operating options.

The researchers are affiliated with the University of Bristol and Sorbonne University in Paris. Together they have built a flexible skin of several layers of silicone membrane. It also contains a layer that conducts electrical charge. It can therefore be used, among other things, as a housing, whereby the researchers have used the artificial skin for a smartphone cover, as a touchpad and also as part of a smartwatch. The possibilities of the material are demonstrated in a demonstration video.

For example, you can see how the skin reacts to touch; the researchers claim that the material is sensitive to tickling. Squeezing, pressing and swiping are also recognized. This allows for various forms of user input, and the scientists demonstrated this by making the artificial skin part of a smartphone. For example, a pinch in the smartphone can serve as a control element.

The researchers suspect that it will not be long before such artificial skin, which they call Skin-On, will find its way into commercial products. It is not clear whether companies have already shown interest; the researchers won’t say anything about that. Developers who want to develop software for it can meet the principal investigators at the UIST conference for more information. The authors also state that with the paper they have published, the development of artificial skin can be imitated by interested parties.

Incidentally, this is not the first time that researchers have made an artificial skin. Swiss researchers have already done this before, but with a different objective. They believe that their skin can help with medical rehabilitation, as well as improve VR experiences.