Artificial Skin Sensitivity Rivals That of Human Skin

New submitter hebbosome writes "Researchers at Georgia Tech have provided a glimpse of a future full of highly-sensitive robots. Their nanoelectronic pressure sensors, comparable in sensitivity to human skin, are made out of new type of vertical transistor (abstract). 'In Wang’s nanowire transistors, the gate traditionally used in electronics is eliminated. Instead, the current flowing through the nanowires is controlled by the electrical charge generated when strain or force applied is to the transistors.' 'The arrays include more than 8,000 functioning piezotronic transistors, each of which can independently produce an electronic controlling signal when placed under mechanical strain.' They could immediately be used in human-machine interfaces for capturing electronic signatures, and, down the road, in robots and prosthetics."

Comments

Soon...

[Anonymous Coward]

I can have multiple remote wireless penises in every part of the world for added fun. Symantec products shall end up around my remote genitals at last.

Overwelming.

[Ostracus]

I think the problem isn't having as many sensitive sensors as possible. It's integrating their output into a larger sensor framework.

Future?

[ArcadeMan]

They could immediately be used in human-machine interfaces for capturing electronic signatures, and, down the road, in robots and prosthetics.

And further in the future, they could be used for the skin of AI-equipped Realdolls. I, for one, hope they add a cat-girl with pink hairs option! (Link potentially NSFW depending on your co-workers)

Re:This year google glass

[game kid]

Nah, I'd expect another name that hammers home its Google-ness with two Gs in a row, like google grope.

Re: Honest Question

[Samantha Wright]

Problem number one is that we're not merely electrical. Outside of the brain (and maybe spine?) all synapses (neuron junctions) require the transit of chemicals—neurotransmitters like acetylcholine and norepinephrine—to fire. Getting artificial skin to send sensory data in this way would be very tricky work, as these chemicals are released in very small quantities into very tiny enclosed cavities, and then re-absorbed so they can be reused.

Two, even if this has superior pressure resolution, consider that human skin has many different kinds of sensors in it (all of which have incompatible and different nerve types.) We have fine- and coarse-grained sensory resolution, we can detect certain forms of vibration, we can detect temperature change, and we can detect injury. Losing that would be a big disadvantage.

Three, it would be distracting. Having a coarse-grained sensory input that is higher-priority than fine-grained input makes it easier to ignore sensations until they are relevant. Many small, equally-weighted pressure sensors don't provide that opportunity.

Four, it can't heal or adjust to temperatures. Yet, anyway.

And five, yes, there's a limited amount of space to plug it in. The body has no way of multiplexing signals, so any time two sensory nerves feed into a single channel, the data is combined and you can't tell where the input came from. In order to maintain the resolution we have, our bodies have one wire for every sensory receptor, all the way up to the brain, unless we're combining inputs. To add new skin with different inputs, you'd need to rewire all of this and then figure out where to plug it in at the brain so it can be processed properly.

All in all, I'd file it in the "50-60 years" drawer.