Last year, I heard about the “electronic skin” developed at the City University of Hong Kong that conveys tactile sensations to the wearer. Universities are now even better with e-skins that have both senses. and Reproduce the touch of the user.
Currently in the form of a functional prototype, the e-skin actually looks more like the epidermal VR system City University helped develop in 2019. Similar to its tactile setup, it incorporates a grid of flexible actuators embedded in a skin-patch type device.
For the new e-skin, there are 16 actuators arranged in a 4 x 4 array, along with a Bluetooth module, A/D converter, and other electronics mounted on a flexible circuit board. The rectangular silicone patch itself measures 7 x 10 cm (2.8 x 3.9 inches) and is 4.2 mm thick.
Each actuator consists of a flexible coil, soft silicon supports, magnets, and a thin polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) film. When the actuator is pressed or released with a finger or the like, an electrical signal is generated that is converted to a digital signal. The digital signal is transmitted wirelessly via Bluetooth (and possibly the Internet) to another e-skin patch for another person.
or The patch responds by vibrating its own corresponding actuator. The longer and harder the initial touch of the transmitting patch, the longer and stronger the vibration of the receiving patch. Also, each actuator cannot detect and reproduce touch at the same time, but the e-skin as a whole can, and some actuators detect touch at the same time as other actuators reproduce touch. increase.
Li, D. et al.
“Our e-skins can communicate with Bluetooth devices, transmit data with smartphones and computers over the Internet, perform ultra-long-range touch transmission, and enable one-to-one and one-to-one touch IoT (things of the Internet) system.Multiple touch delivery may be realized,” said the associate professor of the lead scientist. Professor Yu Xinge. “This form of touch overcomes spatial limitations and greatly reduces the sense of distance in human communication.”
Scientists are also considering adapting the technology for use by blind people, so they can feel Braille messages directly on their skin.
A paper on this study was recently published in the journal scientific progress.
Source: City University of Hong Kong
