iSkin turns body into touch sensor:

iSkin turns body into touch sensor

A skin-worn sensor that promises to turn bodies into touch interfaces was recently presented by a group of academics. The iSkin prototype is a wearable, stretchable interface that can detect two levels of pressure even when stretched by 30% or bent with a radius of 0.5cm. It was presented by Embodied Interaction, a German research group in human-machine interaction.

Researchers were drawn from the Max Planck Institute for Informatics and Saarland University in Saarbrucken, Germany; Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; CNRS LTCI, Telecom-ParisTech, Paris, France; and Aalto University, Helsinki, Finland.

The sensor was developed in light of a growing trend of wearable devices and is designed to interact with mobile devices. ISkin has been demonstrated worn on the arm, finger and ear to control phone calls, write emails and control music.

Researchers noted that, for a wearable sensor, design was crucial and existing vector graphics can be used to create functional sensors. The sensor is made of think, flexible and stretchable silicone using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as a base material.

Researchers say it is an easy-to-process silicone-based organic polymer. Furthermore it is fully transparent, elastic, and a highly biocompatible material and is often used in body implants.

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