

Scaly, furry, smooth, or rough, all creatures with backbones have skin. And while it’s true that skin “helps keep your insides in,” God designed it to do much more than just that. Today, researchers are developing a device to mimic some aspects of real skin. “Smart skin” could have many uses in the fields of medicine and robotics.
Skin is the largest organ in the human body. It is the body’s first defense against disease and dehydration. Skin insulates against heat and cold, regulates internal temperature, enables feeling, and helps produce vitamin D. Along with the liver, kidneys, and a few other organs, skin can also regrow itself.
Copying such a complex organ is difficult. Scientists at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have already developed a fake skin that stretches and repairs itself when torn. Now they’re working on a high-tech electronic skin called Asynchronous (meaning “not happening at the same time”) Coded Electronic Skin, or ACES.
The e-skin shows promise in feeling temperature, texture, and even pain. So far, ACES devices are less than a quarter of an inch in size. Each tiny patch uses more than 100 small sensors to process data faster than human skin. E-skin can also identify as many as 30 different textures. Algorithms programmed into ACES let it learn new feelings quickly. Squishy ball, hard rock, smooth blanket—ACES allows users to feel the differences.
Researcher Benjamin Tee leads the team at the NUS lab. He’s worked on e-skin for over a decade. His goal is to give both robots and prosthetic devices a better sense of touch. “By recreating an artificial version of the skin for their prosthetic devices,” he says, “[robots can] hold a hand and feel the warmth and feel that it is soft, how hard are they holding the hand.”
“Humans use our sense of touch to accomplish almost every daily task, such as picking up a cup of coffee or making a handshake,” Tee continues. He believes giving robots a sense of touch would help them “interact better with humans.”
Tee’s team took inspiration from the human nervous system and according to Tee, the Star Wars movie trilogy. In one scene, the Luke Skywalker character loses a hand. With a robotic hand replacement, Skywalker experiences touch again.
“When you lose your sense of touch, you essentially become numb . . . and prosthetic users face that problem,” says Tee.
ACES technology is still developing. The NUS team hopes to be able to link ACES with other e-skins in their lab—including self-repairing and waterproof ones. Skin research is already creating more lifelike prosthetic limbs and restoring the sense of touch to disabled persons.
1st comment!!!
That's very interesting....
2nd comment
That's so cool! this world keeps getting more technological. have you read the Holograms Beam Home article? Fascinating
cool
this is actually a little
this is actually a little scary of how much tech is getting into our world!
this is actually a little
this is actually a little scary of how much tech is getting into our world!
@Nadia, if you read this
Random question, are you the same NA that was on WorldTeen at 2019?
@Above
Weird..................................... not something I would want, thank you very much! I am perfectly happy with my regular skin!
I think I saw this on World watch.
I think I saw this on World watch.
@Riley
I would want my own skin too, but it would be a life saver for people who have lost limbs and can have their sense of touch back! Although I guess it's strange to think about having sensors on your skin...
Cool! Im gonna become Anakin
Cool! Im gonna become Anakin when he loses his hand!!
Cool I’m still waiting for
Cool I’m still waiting for lightsabers though.
this is Mylee
me to candence lol ! This is so cool lol ! I did robotics for 2 years so this is interesting .
this is Mylee
i think I did see this on world watch too caden w ! My brothers name is Kaedon. lol
This is London
I guess this is good for ppl who don’t have a limb or something......
@ Cadence
Yep, still waiting!
cool
I'm a tech nerd, this is cool!(16th comment) hehe
I like my skin more though
I think it would help lots of medical stuff for people that need extra sin to cover over wounds and stuff, though real skin is much nicer.
@ Riley
I agree........ I think I'll skip that. I hope that iffff they get this skin, they can still feel pain so that they know if they are hurting. Sounds to me like a nightmare!!
Wow!
I never knew the 2020s could make fascinating inventions!
kinda gross but okay..........
I think it's a really cool idea but it still has a long way to go
#Love&PeacetoRBG