Artificial Fingers Playing on a Smartphone

Artificial Finger for Smooth Touchscreen Control
Capable of Playing Electronic Piano, Turning eBooks, Scrolling Screens, and More

A black artificial finger (far left) touching a smartphone.

[Asia Economy Reporter Junho Hwang] An artificial finger that can gently operate on fragile screens, such as smartphone displays, has been developed. A highly efficient soft actuator capable of responding quickly even at low voltage has been created. It is expected to contribute to the development of soft haptic feedback systems applicable to wearable robots and home appliances.

Artificial Finger Responding Quickly Even at Low Voltage

The National Research Foundation of Korea announced on the 5th that a research team led by Professor Oil Kwon of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) has developed soft touch actuator technology that can precisely touch smartphones or haptic-responsive displays. An actuator is a device that converts electrical signals into mechanical motion.

The research team embarked on developing materials to create an actuator that responds quickly at low voltage. Although soft actuators based on soft artificial muscles have been developed, their slow response speed at low voltage has been pointed out as a limitation.

The team synthesized a porous cyclic compound (triazine ring) composed of metal-excluded covalent bonds and then combined it with a conductive polymer (PE DOT-PSS) to develop a flexible material. The artificial finger made from this material’s actuator could produce large deformations quickly even at low voltage (±0.5V), inducing a soft touch response. This was due to its porous carbon structure, which increased the specific surface area. As the specific surface area expanded, the surface charge amount increased, enhancing operating speed and responsiveness. The team confirmed a bending deformation of about 17mm at an actual low voltage (0.5V).

Playing Smartphone Electronic Piano with Soft Artificial Finger

The research team created a soft touch actuator using this material and played the "Happy Birthday" song through continuous touches on a smartphone electronic piano application, as well as implemented functions such as turning electronic book pages and screen scrolling.

The team stated, "We confirmed the possibility of replacing the human hand through soft touch operations by systematically controlling and executing music apps with the artificial finger," and added, "It is expected to be applied to the development of soft haptic feedback systems suitable for wearable robots and electronic home appliances in the future."

Meanwhile, this research achievement was recently published in the international journal Nature Communications.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.