Northwestern University
A synthetic skin could help add the sensation of touch to prosthetic hands or give video games a more realistic feel. The skin comes as a battery-free patch that can be stuck onto any part of the body.
To create the sensation of touch, the patch vibrates and gently pushes the skin surface. An internal magnet and copper coil allow it to be powered wirelessly, while the cloth covering can be coloured to match the user’s skin.
The synthetic skin was created by John Rogers at Northwestern University in Illinois and his colleagues. In a demonstration, a man with a prosthetic hand wore the skin on the upper part of this arm. When he grasped a cup with the artificial hand, sensors transmitted the touch sensations to his upper arm, allowing him to feel the cup.
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“Touch is very important for being able to use a limb,” says Christof Lutteroth at the University of Bath, UK. Anyone who has tried opening a door in winter with cold hands knows how crucial touch is for grasping and manipulating objects, he says.
The patch could also be used in gaming. In another demonstration, the patch vibrated to convert strikes in a combat video game into real sensations felt on the player’s body.
Rogers now wants to refine the touch sensations transmitted by the patch, for example by adding the ability to gently heat and cool the skin.
Journal reference: Nature, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1687-0
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