Touch IoT enabled by wireless self-sensing and haptic-reproducing electronic skin.

Abstract

Tactile sensations are mainly transmitted to each other by physical touch. Wireless touch perception could be a revolution for us to interact with the world. Here, we report a wireless self-sensing and haptic-reproducing electronic skin (e-skin) to realize noncontact touch communications. A flexible self-sensing actuator was developed to provide an integrated function in both tactile sensing and haptic feedback. When this e-skin was dynamically pressed, the actuator generated an induced voltage as tactile information. Via wireless communication, another e-skin could receive this tactile data and run a synchronized haptic reproduction. Thus, touch could be wirelessly conveyed in bidirections between two users as a touch intercom. Furthermore, this e-skin could be connected with various smart devices to form a touch internet of things where one-to-one and one-to-multiple touch delivery could be realized. This wireless touch presents huge potentials in remote touch video, medical care/assistance, education, and many other applications.