The Right Touch
Inventor:
Takao Someya
Availability:
Prototype only
To Learn More:
www.ntech.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp
The key to making artificially intelligent robots lies in giving them plenty of ways to gather information about their environment. Takao Someya, a researcher at the University of Tokyo, has created an electronic film—made up of bendable, shock-resistant transistors embedded in plastic—that can detect pressure and temperature. The sheet, known as a "large-area sensor array," is flexible enough to cover small objects and could give robots a sense of touch. Another potential use:...