Body-coupled touch sensor inspired by human tactile perception enables sensing of multiple touch states

Touch sensors with human-like tactile perception substantially expand the human’s interactive control capabilities, but still face challenges such as the need for external power sources, complex structures, multiple interfaces and signal crosstalk. We propose a body-coupled touch sensing mechanism that utilizes the power frequency electric field in the environment as the energy source, and develop a body-coupled bioinspired touch sensor that requires only two electrodes. The device integrates multiple touch states sensing, recognition and transmission functions through the rational design of gradient resistive elements, exhibiting excellent performance of ultra-low detection threshold (≤ 0.02 N), fast response (~ 10 ms) and ultra-durability (> 300,000 cycles), and has been successfully applied to piano playing, robot control and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) control. The research presented in this paper opens a new path for the future development of interactive electronic technology.