Scientists create artificial skin that will make your phone ticklish

Forget protective covers – researchers have recently developed phone cases using a new interface that make your phone capable of "feeling" sensations such as tickling, caressing, twisting and even pinching, similar to human beings.

 "Skin-On" interface will allow you to tickle your phone

The interface, also known as "Skin-On", acts just like human skin in sensing resolution. During the study, the researchers built a phone case, computer touchpad, and smartwatch to demonstrate how these artificial human skin cases can feel touch gestures on the Skin-On interface and respond through expressive messages for computer-mediated communication with humans or virtual characters. 

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The researchers demonstrated that the “Skin-On” interface is capable of generating human emotions on electronic devices, such as tickling the skin can generate a laughing emoji on a phone while tapping it can create a surprised emoji. The lead author of the study Marc Teyssier from Telecomm ParisTech in France recently explained that one of the main use of smartphones is mediated communication, using text, voice, video, or a combination of all of it. 

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A bio-driven approach

Teyssier also added that the researcher developed a new messaging application that enables users to express rich tactile emotions on the artificial skin which detects the intensity of the touch, that controls the size of the emojis. 

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According to reports, the new interface is to be presented at the 32nd ACM User Interface Software and Technology Symposium to be held in New Orleans in the US from October 20-23 takes touch technology to the next level. The researchers revealed that they adopted a bio-driven approach to build the multi-layer, silicone membrane. They explained that the cases made up of a surface textured layer, an electrode layer of conductive threads and a hypodermis layer.  

Not only is the interface more natural than a rigid casing, but it can also detect a plethora of gestures made by the end-users. As a result, the artificial skin allows devices to 'feel' the user's grasp its pressure and location, and can detect interactions such as tickling, caressing, even twisting and pinching. 

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