German scientists develop iSkin
Posted on: 12/Aug/2015 11:49:52 AM
Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Informatics and at Saarland University in Germany have developed a sensor that can be worn on the skin. This turns into a touch sensitive surface and can be used to control mobile devices. It has been named iSkin. The device is made from bio-compatible silicone rubber. It has pressure sensitive sensors.
iSkin comes in various shapes and sizes. It can worn on the finger, forearm and even behind the ear lobe. This high quality device is sensitive to touch even when it is stretched or bent. The prototypes can, at the moment, answer incoming calls, play music and adjust volume of the user’s mobile phones and devices. The scientists have also developed a roll up keyboard that can be used with a smart watch.
The `electronic skin` can allow robots to have a better sense of their surroundings. They also enable the robot to react to things like contact, pressure and temperature. iSkin`s base material is polydimethylsiloxane, also called PDMS, which is a silicone based organic polymer.
The scientists said, `Current electronics are mostly using rigid components which are very uncomfortable to wear on the body and are limiting the locations to, for example, the wrist or on the head to be worn. But our sensor is a flexible and stretchable sensor, so it can cover many locations. For example, even the backside of the ear or the forearm. So, we have a much larger input space than current electronics allow for. The technology is initially coming from robotics where it`s used to give robots kind of a feeling similar to the human body, to human skin. However, we are the first to look into how we can use it on the body to control mobile devices; so as a kind of second-skin which nicely conforms to your body. The sensor is made out of bio-compatible silicone and carbon-doped silicone. So there are carbon particles inside the silicone which make it conductive so we can use it for electronics. (We hope) that it could one day be possible to incorporate an energy-harvesting system that would power iSkin via the wear`s body`.
