Extremely durable electrical impedance tomography-based soft and ultrathin wearable e-skin for three-dimensional tactile interfaces.

Sci Adv

Functional Bio-integrated Electronics and Energy Management Lab, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Yonsei University, 50 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 03722, Republic of Korea.

Published: September 2024

In the rapidly evolving field of human-machine interfaces (HMIs), high-resolution wearable electronic skin (e-skin) is essential for user interaction. However, traditional array-structured tactile interfaces require increased number of interconnects, while soft material-based computational methods have limited functionalities. Here, we introduce a thin and soft e-skin for tactile interfaces, offering high mapping capabilities through electrical impedance tomography (EIT). We employed an organic/inorganic hybrid structure with simple, cost-effective fabrication processes, ensuring flexibility and stability. The conductive and stretchable sensing domain includes a micropatterned multiwall carbon nanotube and elastomer composite. The skin-like tactile interface effectively detects pressure-induced conductivity changes, offering superior spatiotemporal resolution with fewer interconnects (pixel/interconnects >57). This EIT-based tactile interface discerns external pressures to a submillimeter degree and vertical deformations of a few hundred micrometers. It sustains stable functions under external damage or environmental changes, confirming its suitability for persistent wearable use. We demonstrate practical applications in real-time HMIs: handwriting recognition and drone control.

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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11414730PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adr1099DOI Listing

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