Electronic skin displays pressure directly as light in laboratory tests

National University of Singapore researchers developed an electronic skin that converts pressure into visible light, combining touch sensing and visualization without a separate display. The 70-micrometer-thick device reproduced fingerprint ridges at 30-micrometer resolution and produced visible light within 15 milliseconds in laboratory tests, New Atlas reported. Pressure compresses microscopic domes, strengthening an electric field that makes a light-emitting layer glow. Brighter areas indicate greater pressure; connected electronics can also measure pressure quantitatively. Researchers demonstrated the material on a foot model and a surgical grasper using artificial tissue. Those demonstrations required an external alternating-current supply operating at 150 volts and 1 kHz, limiting practical wearable and robotic use.