Welcome to the Internet of Skin
‘The average adult has between 1.5 and 2.0 square-meters of skin—all of it feeling all of the time. Skin offers a continuous monitoring of outside conditions and fills a sensory role that is even a bit hard to pin down. Touch: the body’s wilderness of nerve endings. There is temperature and pain and pressure, of course, but also the delicate narcotic of another’s fingers lightly brushing against it. Touch is what’s between us and everything else, for better or for worse
It should be no surprise to learn that engineers are fascinated by skin and its sensory potential. A new paper published in the IEEE’s Nanotechnology Magazine outlines the concept of “smart skins” and their fabrication using ink-jet printing—a cheap and “green” alternative to conventional electronics manufacturing. The ink: a solution of carbon nanotubes, particles highly desirable for their malleable electrical conductivity and chemical sensitivity.’
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