Stretchy Skin-Like Sensors

AISkin, or artificial ionic skin, is an innovation out of Canada's University of Toronto Engineering that is made using two oppositely charged sheets of stretchable hydrogels. The ultra-stretchy, transparent and self-powering sensor is used to record skin sensations, especially in response to changes in humidity, temperature or even strain. According to Professor Xinyu Liu, "If you look at human skin, how we sense heat or pressure, our neural cells transmit information through ions—it’s really not so different from our artificial skin."

There are tons of potential applications for the skin-like sensor, as it could be used in everything from wearable technology and personal healthcare products to robotics.

Image Credit: University of Toronto Engineering