Biotechnicians have engineered an electronic skin that can sense touch. This is a major breakthrough because while we have adequate substitutes for the other four senses, touch was way behind. The sensors in the e-skin can respond to the same pressures that normal human skin would. The skin is made of a matrix or nanowires attached to a sticky film. Attached to that are nano scale transistors and a pressure-sensitive rubber. The skin can feel pressures of 0-15 kilopascals, about the pressure of normal activities. Another group of scientists used a different approach. They used rubber film that changes thickness according to pressure. However, the material cannot be stretched. The response time to pressure is within milliseconds, almost instantaneous. The scientists plan on making better sensors that will react to varying pressures, like our nerves do, and to figure out how to connect this new e-skin on to human nerves.
The applications for the e-skin are endless. We could put the new skin onto prostheses, making the prosthetic like a real arm or leg. If we figured out a way to connect the transistors to nerve cells, amputees would have the complete function of a limb again. If robots were outfitted with the e-skin, they would be able to perform more delicate tasks, like holding crystal. Robots outfitted with the e-skin could be sent into environments where it is to dangerous for humans to go and be able to relay more information to us.
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