How Far for the Electronic Skin: From Multifunctional Material to Advanced Applications

Abstract

Electronic skin that imitates the characteristics and functions of human skin to sense various external signals and records them as different electrical signals has received extensive attention, and much effort has been made on electronic skin for potential medicine application. However, it still needs a long way to achieve practical applications for electronic skin as consumer electronics, the recent progress of electronic skin is reviewed. First, the crucial characteristics in practical electronic skin are analyzed. Subsequently, the technical supports that need to obtain practical electronic skin are also discussed, and electronic skin in terms of short‐term application, medium‐term application and long‐term application are introduced. Finally, suggestions for future development directions in this fascinating field are put forward.

Advanced Interfacial Design for Electronic Skins with Customizable Functionalities and Wearability

“…1) Improvements of spatial and temporal resolution: With the development of the functions of E-skin systems, outstanding achievements have been made in areas like sensitivity and perception range. [26,152] However, compared with the human skin, E-skin systems still have great challenges in spatial and temporal sensitivity. Improving the time and space sensitivity of E-skin systems through reasonable materials, structure, circuit design, and software support will be one of the key directions for the further development of E-skin functions.…”

“…The intelligent material design, like the signal filter materials, the intelligent circuit hardware and the adaptation of software require the collaborative design as a system. [26,149,152] Developing the E-skin systems capable of perception, learning, decision-making, and feedback will be the ultimate goal of the next-generation E-skin systems. 6) Wearability of E-skin systems: Ergonomics of E-skin systems becomes more and more important.…”

“…Biodegradable materials, natural materials, and biomaterials are the development directions of E-skin materials. [118,152] Sustainable, biodegradable E-skins which can alleviate the environmental and health risks of e-waste materials will be a dominant future trend. 8) The integration of E-skin systems: The ultimate goal of the E-skin systems is to achieve a complete integrated system, that has the same multifunctional ability as the human skin, [151,152,154] as well as a closed-loop system with power, perception, analysis, communication, etc.…”

“…[118,152] Sustainable, biodegradable E-skins which can alleviate the environmental and health risks of e-waste materials will be a dominant future trend. 8) The integration of E-skin systems: The ultimate goal of the E-skin systems is to achieve a complete integrated system, that has the same multifunctional ability as the human skin, [151,152,154] as well as a closed-loop system with power, perception, analysis, communication, etc. [26] Interdisciplinary, systematic and comprehensive design of electronic skin systems require the close cooperation of scientists, engineers, and users.…”

Integrated Multifunctional Electronic Skins with Low‐Coupling for Complicated and Accurate Human–Robot Collaboration

“…The mechanical sensory network (e.g., electronic skin, e-skin) composed of flexible and stretchable sensors can perform as human skin to detect the physiological signals, environmental stimuli, and body motions effectively. [15,16] Inspired by this, the e-skin has also been developed for perception of the environmental information for robot control. [13,[17][18][19][20] The multi-functionalities, high accuracy, and low coupling are of essential importance in developing e-skin to mimic the function of human skin.…”