Stretchable skin sensor could help you touch things in VR

Virtual reality doesn’t quite match up to the “reality” label without tactile sensations, but that might not be an issue for too much longer. Cornell scientists have developed a new form of stretchable skin sensor that uses fiber optics to provide a...

Researchers built robotic skin with a sense of touch

Using Intel’s neuromorphic chip, Loihi, researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) developed an artificial skin that allows robots to detect touch 1,000 times faster than the human sensory nervous system. The system can also identify...

Researchers create an artificial skin that makes your phone ticklish

We're so reliant on our smartphones that it's probably fair to say they've become an extension of ourselves, so the fact that scientists have now developed an artificial "skin" for our devices -- that has the ability to make them ticklish -- is not a...

Trill Gives Makers Easy Touch Sensing

Makers, here’s a new set of gizmos for your bag of tricks. Created by open-source interactive sensor company Bela, the Trill series is a line of sensors which make it easy to add capacitive touch interactions to any DIY electronic project.

There are three devices in the Trill series, each designed for a different sort of touch project. The Trill Bar is a slider which can sense up to five touch points, the trackpad-like Trill Square senses two axes of movement, while the Trill Craft is a breakout board that lets you turn any conductive object into an interface. Yes, you can use it to play music with fruit and veggies if you want.

Each of the sensors has an on-board microcontroller and is capable of high-resolution sensing. The Trill Bar and Trill Square each have a resolution of less than 0.1 mm, and all three devices have just 5ms input latency for quick responsiveness.

All three devices are available for pre-order on Kickstarter now, with individual sensors selling for just £14 (~$18 USD) each. They also have discounted packs of 3, 5, and 30 sensors for larger projects or classroom usage. The crowdfunding campaign ends on 10/18/19.

New prosthetic legs let amputees feel their foot and knee in real-time

There's been a lot of research into how to give robots and prosthesis wearers a sense of touch, but it has focused largely on the hands. Now, researchers led by ETH Zurich want to restore sensory feedback for leg amputees, too. In a paper published i...