Electronic skin with “brain”
Imagine if your skin could sense objects without touching them and if robots could detect objects and operate accurately just by approaching a surface, German researchers have created an ultra-thin and intelligent electronic skin, capable of detecting magnetic fields with extreme precision and most impressively using a single sensor and a global sensory layer that works like a human brain.
This technology could change everything from the way we interact with our phones to the way prosthetics and robots touch and understand the world around them.
And how does the Smart Magnetic Skin work?
It is made up of three layers and has a biological function that makes the new e-skins emit the functioning of the skin and the human brain, using only three components: a flexible and breathable membrane, which can be placed directly on the skin, a layer called sensitive and global magnet, which reacts to magnetic fields without the need for multiple sensors and a central processing unit that interprets the data as the brain processes touch.
Inspired by magnetic resonance, the e-skins uses tomography to accurately reconstruct the location and intensity of a magnetic field, an unprecedented innovation in this type of sensor. When it approaches a magnetic field, the electronic skin undergoes changes in its electrical resistance which are read and processed in real time, allowing precise control without the need for physical contact.
Why is this corner so revolutionary?
This technology allows interactions in places where touch screens do not work well, such as dusty, icy or humid environments or in sterile laboratories, underwater or in contaminated areas, in all these cases this smart skin could allow remote operations without physical contact and with great precision.
And in the case of robots, it will have an intelligent sense of touch, with this electronic skin robots will be able to perform delicate tasks such as cooking without the need for pre-inserted data, since they will be able to identify each touch on their own, rescue people in dangerous environments or perhaps arrest you without ripping off your arm if told to do so and in more optimistic scenarios operate medical equipment with the sensitivity of a human being.
If we go even further in applications such as underwater and space exploration, robots equipped with these e-skins will be able to build surfaces, recognize hidden objects and react to subtle stimuli, even in environments with low light or high pressure, blind people could expand their magnetic perception with the e-skins, detecting obstacles or interacting with digital spaces from a distance.
Prosthetic hands that do not work on touch screens could interact with smartphones and other devices just by getting close to them, something unthinkable until now.
Unlike previous technologies, this electronic skin does not depend on multiple sensors, heavy batteries, or complex systems, it is light, transparent, breathable and efficient and best of all, the same e-skins
It can be applied to both robots and humans, facilitating the integration between the biological and digital worlds.
