Multimodal Ion-Electronic Skin Offers Combined Temperature and Touch Sensitivity
Based on simple structures, the flexible skin can detect mechanical movement while also offering accurate temperature readings.
A team of researchers from Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) and Stanford University have published a paper describing a "multimodal ion-electronic skin" which, they claim, can offer simultaneous and accurate sensing of both movement and temperature — just like human skin.
"When an index finger touches an electronic skin, the electronic skin detects contact as a temperature change, and when a finger pushes the skin, the back part of the contact area stretches and recognizes it as movement," explains first author Dr. Insang You of the team's work. "I suspect that this mechanism is one of the ways that the actual human skin recognizes different stimuli like temperature and movement."
"This study is the first step in opening the door for multimodal electronic skin research using electrolytes," adds corresponding author Professor Unyong Jeong. "The ultimate goal of this research is to create artificial ion-electronic skin that simulates human tactile receptors and neurotransmitters, which will help restore the sense of touch in patients who have lost their tactile sensation due to illness or accidents."
A key feature of the novel skin is that it is built up of very simple electrode-electrolyte-electrode structures, yet offers distinct variables which correspond to changes in temperature and mechanical stimulation. Earlier electronic skin projects have typically concentrated on one or the other, and the implementations which offer both usually see temperature sensing accuracy drop dramatically as the skin is deformed — something from which the team's ion-electronic skin does not suffer, reporting accurate temperature readings even while detecting shear, pinch, spread, and torsion gestures.
The team's work has been published under closed-access terms in the journal Science.