Saturday 26 February 2011

Researchers develop an artificial "Super-Skin"

Powered by stretchable solar cells, with integrated sensors that are sensitive enough to feel a fly touch down on it, while at the same time being as thin as normal skin, the artificial skin developed by Stanford researcher Zhenan Bao truly is a "Super-Skin".

At the foundation of the skin is an organic transistor, made from flexible polymers and other carbon based materials. Above that, to allow touches to be detected there is a rubber layer. When pressed it changes thickness which changes the amount of current that flows through the material below. This can then be translated into sensations.
(Credit: Photos by L.A. Cicero)



There are also plans to add other kind of sensors to the material.

"With artificial skin, we can basically incorporate any function we desire," said Bao, a professor of chemical engineering. "That is why I call our skin 'super skin.' It is much more than what we think of as normal skin."

Especially detectors for chemicals are planned, and only recently they have managed to demonstrate the concept by detecting a specific type of DNA. This has applications especially in the medical science field, and a glove made from the material could help with the detection of diseases.

The applications for this type of material are endless, from replacing burned skin, to covering robotic prosthetic arms, or to allow robots to sense touches, it could be used for many things. 

Luke Skywalker's artificial hand. Things like this might soon be a reality.

32 comments:

  1. Sorry, dirty mind. What if you masturbated with a 'super skin' penis? Normal wanking feels good. Would this be mind-blowing???

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  2. @lost.in.idaho: i am sure that it would be mind blowing... :)

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  3. about time they took another shot at making luke an arm that works off-camera!

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  4. Oh amazing, I wonder how Japan would use this technology.

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  5. Wow, it's impressive what scientist have done

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  6. I saw the Luke Skywalker picture and didn't read the caption for a second. So there was a very short time where I thought "WOW THAT LOOKS JUST LIKE STAR WARS. TECHNOLOGY IS AWESOME"

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  7. Technology these days, so amaizng

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  8. when will this become "mainstream"

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  9. Hope this gets done. I was already thinking about Luke when I started reading haha.

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  10. I wondered if I would be judege for intentionally chopping of my own hand to become more like Luke Skywalker?

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  11. probably gives you cancer or something

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  12. May cause a revolution in prostethics.

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  13. NO WAY! you gota be kidding me. I need some of this haha

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  14. whaaaaat this is awesome! we can start playing thumb wars w/ robots.

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  15. Awesome! Glad I'm following!

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  16. that is crazy science - what will they develop next

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  17. I would be afraid of a "malfunction" while masturbating.

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  18. Man, you're posting all of the cool stuff.

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  19. The robots now truely look like us!!! ahhh!!!

    also fleshlight

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  20. I'm pretty sure this is how Terminator started...

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  21. Welcome to the matrix, friends.

    Supposedly we will be able to live forever fully immersed in a manmade matrix by 2060.

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  22. Wow... Im shocked. Science is so awesome xD

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  23. lmao @idaho, that's a good blog topic...

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  24. very cool, science has made so many extraordinary things

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  25. oh boy, this will lead us to cyborgs and androids and eternal life

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  26. <i love technology, nice blog !!!

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