Scientists Develop Electronic Skin

It lights up by touch

Imagine how awesome — or distracting — it would be if human skin lit up every time something pushed on it. Pulsing arteries, mosquitoes, a rude shoulder-check on the sidewalk, or scratching an itch would transform a person into a blinking light show.

Now, scientists at the University of California, Berkeley have designed an electronic skin that does actually does this: Super-thin and flexible, the skin lights up when touched. More pressure produces a brighter light, the team reports July 21 in Nature Materials.