A Saudi research team has developed a ‘magnetic skin’ that can open a door or control a switch remotely with a simple wave of the hand or blink of an eye, as new technology continues to change the way humans interact with the outside world.
The lightweight and flexible skin, combined with magnetic sensors, can be placed on the hand, the fingertip or even the eyelid in any shape or colour, and enables remote control functions.
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The artificial skin is made with an ultraflexible, biocompatible polymer matrix filled with magnetised microparticles, which is an inexpensive and simple process, says Abdullah Almansour, a PhD student at KAUST involved in the study.
The research team has tested the skin on the eyelid to track eye movement, which could see it potentially applied in human-computer interaction for people with paralysis, or to alert sleepy drivers. When attached to a finger or weaved into a glove, the magnetic skin enables remote gesture control that can, for example, allow a door to be opened with a wave.
The researchers are also exploring how to apply gesture-control applications of the skin to wheelchair users.
Read full, original post: This magnetic skin can allow you to open a door with the blink of an eye, researchers say
