New ultra-flexible material could be used as artificial skin
It is also touch-sensitive, with the ability to even detect proximity such as a hovering fingertip.
One way to fabricate unbreakable touchscreens is to craft them using hardened materials such as glass and polymer. Another way is to create them using flexible materials that are resistant to tearing and puncture.
In a recent development, Canadian researchers have invented a pliable, touch-sensitive material that can actually be folded or rolled when not in use. Also being flexible, they can confirm to the shape of other surfaces -- such as a person’s hand or leg -- enabling them to be utilized as an artificial skin.
This material is transparent, and is created using a conductive gel that is sandwiched between layers of silicone. This union of these materials gives it both malleability as well as touch-sensitivity.
"There are sensors that can detect pressure, such as the iPhone's 3D Touch, and some that can detect a hovering finger, like Samsung's AirView," said engineer Mirza Saquib Sarwar from the University of British Columbia.
Besides being touch-sensitive, the material is also able to register the presence of objects in close proximity -- such as a finger hovering above it. The research team imparted this functionality by using hydrogel electrodes that are embedded within the silicone layers that generate a tiny electric field above the surface of the material. During testing, the electrodes enabled the sensor to register a finger hovering a few centimetres above a test patch measuring 5 cm x 5 cm (2 inch x 2 inch).
The researchers also stated that this material is cheap to manufacture, enabling applications ranging from screens on handheld devices to room-sized surfaces that require touch-sensitive capabilities, with costs reckoned at a few dollars per square meter.
Going ahead, the material could also find its way into applications such as robotic skin, where robots of the future could actually be ‘aware’ of humans in close proximity and function in a manner that reduces the possibility of bringing harm to nearby people.
Watch the material in action here: