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A team of French and English researchers recently
showcased a prototype phone case called Skin-On, which not only mimics
the look and feel of human skin, but also enables interaction
communication through gestures like pinching or tickling.
Developed by researchers at the University of Bristol in partnership
with Telecomm ParisTech and Sorbonne University, Skin-On consists of a
layer of stretchable copper wire in between two different forms of
silicone layers. The materials are mass-produced, and the creators of
Skin-On claim that the cost of a commercial version of the case would be
around $6.5. While anyone could build it, project leader Marc Teyssier
admitted that finding the right balance to create what is essentially
artificial skin was challenging, considering the case was also supposed
to detect touch. But why bother making a smartphone case that everyone
generally agrees is “decidedly creepy”. Dr Anne Roudaut, Associate
Professor in Human-Computer Interaction, explains:
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“This is the first time we have the opportunity to add skin to our
interactive devices. The idea is perhaps a bit surprising, but skin is
an interface we are highly familiar with so why not use it and its
richness with the devices we use every day?”
Skin-On not only feels more natural than a rigid smartphone case, but it
can also detect certain gestures, which makes it that much creepier.
According to a paper published by its creators, the case essentially
allows devices to ‘feel’ the user’s grasp, as well as various gestures,
such as tickling, pinching or caressing. “We implemented a messaging
application where users can express rich tactile emotions on the
artificial skin. The intensity of the touch controls the size of the
emojis. A strong grip conveys anger while tickling the skin displays a
laughing emoji and tapping creates a surprised emoji,” Marc Teyssier
explained.
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Although the artificial skin case already feels eerily human-like to the
touch, researchers are now exploring new ways to “increase
anthropomorphism”. They want to implement hair and a temperature feature
that could be enough to give our handhelds goosebumps in certain
conditions.
“This work explores the intersection between man and machine. We have
seen many works trying to augment human with parts of machines, here we
look at the other way around and try to make the devices we use every
day more like us, i.e. human-like,” Dr. Roudaut concluded.
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