Silicone "human skin" phone case?

2020/7/16 17:08:50

Have you heard of the "artificial skin phone case" a while ago?

In fact, it is not a real mobile phone case, but an artificial skin developed by the researchers of the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, the Sorbonne University in France, and the Paris Telecom Company. It is wrapped in a smartphone, laptop touchpad and smart. Perform interactive experiments on the watch to facilitate computer-mediated communication with people or virtual characters.

In fact, the research and development of artificial skin is to better study the tactile interaction and promote the interaction technology to a new level.

After face recognition, voice assistants, and beautifying photos, one day in the future, perhaps your mobile phone can also have "tactile sensation."

The idea of using artificial skin for a mobile phone protective case came from Marc Teyssier, an employee of Paris Telecom, who developed the "Skin-On Interfaces" in cooperation with researchers from the University of Bristol and Sorbonne to imitate the appearance of human skin. It also has a perceived resolution.

This artificial skin can not only have the tactile and silky feel of human skin, but also the coating looks very much like real skin, and has been programmed to respond to human touch, such as pinch, poke, tickle and so on.

This artificial skin consists of multiple layers of silicone film to mimic the layers present in human skin. It consists of a "dermis layer", an electrode layer and a "subcutaneous layer", and the middle electrode layer is a sensor composed of many very thin wires overlapping each other. Therefore, it can have the touch of human skin, can "feel" the user's grip, and can detect interactive actions such as tickling, caressing, and even pinching and twisting.

Dr. Anne Roudaut, associate professor of human-computer interaction at the University of Bristol, said this was the first time they thought of adding skin to an interactive device. Although the idea is "big brain hole", project sponsor Marc Teyssier believes that human skin is the best interactive carrier, why not use it to enrich the performance of the device? The Teyssier team hopes that the electronic device will also have a skin to provide users with a new form of interaction.