An interactive e-skin device in which LEDs are turned on where the surface is touched. The intensiAn interactive e-skin device in which LEDs are turned on where the surface is touched. The intensity of the light corresponds to the amount of pressurety of the light corresponds to the amount of pressure

Imagine how awesome — or distracting — it would be if skin illuminated every time something pushed into it. Pulsing arteries, mosquitoes, a rude shoulder-check up on the sidewalk, or scratching an itch would transform somebody into a blinking light show.

An interactive e-skin device in which LEDs are turned on where the surface is touched. The intensity of the light corresponds to the amount of pressure

Now, scientists at the University of California, Berkeley have designed an electronic digital skin that does actually do this: Super-thin and versatile, skin lights up when touched. More pressure generates a brighter light, the c's reports July 21 naturally Materials.

Thinner when compared to a sheet of paper, your skin is made from layers of plastic along with a pressure-sensitive rubber. A conductive silver ink, organic LEDs, and thin-film transistors produced from semiconductor-enriched carbon nanotubes are sandwiched involving the layers. Applying pressure sends a sign from the rubber that ultimately turns on the LEDs, which illuminate in red, green, yellow or blue.

Instead of while using the material to create Bodysuits for Burning Man or other illuminated party tricks, scientists declare that it will be employed for smart wallpapers, health-monitoring devices, or in robotics. The type of interactive pressure sensor produced by the Berkeley scientists is also useful in artificial skin for prosthetic limbs. For years, scientists happen to be taking care of developing systems and materials that may be included in a functioning, stimulus-responsive skin — something that can sense temperature, pressure, and stretch, and will heal itself. Additionally, a real shot might one day transform a typical robot into an interactive machine that’s effective at addressing tiny changes in its environment.