Singapore researchers say they have developed a form of electronic skin that can create a sense of touch. They hope their invention will give people with prosthetic hands (假肢手) the ability to identify different objects.
The skin device measures 1 square centimeter. The system contains 100 small sensors that attempt to recreate things like texture (质地), temperature and even pain. The researchers call the device Asynchronous Coded Electronic Skin, or ACES, which can process information faster than humans' nervous system. Machine learning methods trained the device to recognize 20 to 30 different textures. It can even correctly read Braille letters most of the time, the researchers say.
The system does not require the users' movement to work. Humans need to slide to feel texture. But in this case the skin, with just a single touch, is able to detect textures of different roughness.
A demonstration showed that the device could identify the difference between a soft ball and a solid plastic one. “When you lose your sense of touch, you essentially become numb and prosthetic users face that problem,” said Benjamin Tee, leader of the research team. “So by recreating an artificial version of the skin, for their prosthetic devices, they can hold a hand and feel the warmth and feel that it is soft.”
Tee said his idea for the device came from the movie Star Wars, when character Luke Skywalker loses his right hand and it is replaced with a robotic one. In the film, the new hand is able to experience touch sensations just like the real one.
The artificial skin technology is still going through experiments and development. But Tee said there had already been a lot of interest in the system, especially from the medical community. Tee said similar inventions that his team has developed include see-through skin that can repair itself when torn and a material for wearable electronic devices that gives off light.
【小题1】Which of the following can best describe ACES?| A．Tiny and smart. | B．Simple and fashionable. |
| C．Rough and ready. | D．See-through and short-lived. |
| A．The artificial skin feels warm when touched. |
| B．The prosthetic devices should be made softer. |
| C．The device can recreate the feeling of real touch. |
| D．The sense of touch is often overlooked by people. |
| A．The financial needs. | B．A scene of a famous movie. |
| C．The interest in Braille letters. | D．A desire to help those in need. |
| A．Mature | B．Unreliable | C．Promising | D．Debatable |
