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Developed by scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder, the e-skin takes the form of a thin, semi-transparent material that can mimic both the functional and behavioral properties of actual human skin. While it’s intended to give prosthetics the ability to provide sensory feedback to their users, the technology has also been touted for its potential among robots. More specifically, the e-skin could allow robots to experience human sensations by way of touch. These sensations are triggered by sensors embedded in the skin, which themselves will be able to gauge temperature, pressure, humidity, and airflow.

The e-skin boasts several unique properties, including its incorporation of polyimine, a polymer base known for its strength and electric conductivity. It also contains silver nanoparticles for chemical stability. When compounds found in ethanol are mixed with these materials, the e-skin is able to miraculously repair itself. On top of that, it’s completely recyclable — which is exactly why researchers are saying this material is so unique.

“What is unique here is that the chemical bonding of the polyimine we use allows the e-skin to be both self-healing and fully recyclable at room temperature,” says Jianliang Xiao, the mechanical engineer at UCB who led the study. “Given the millions of tons of electronic waste generated worldwide every year, the recyclability of our e-skin makes good economic and environmental sense.”

Another benefit of the e-skin is that it can easily conform to curved surfaces like robotic arms and hands. All one has to do is apply moderate heat and pressure to it without introducing any excessive stresses. If the e-skin is wrapped around a prosthetic hand, it will allow the prosthetic to sense for pressure when picking up an object, such as a glass of water. The skin would then tell the hand how much pressure to use, thereby preventing people from accidentally crushing the cup.

“If you think about what real skin can do, real skin can prevent people getting burned [and] can prevent people getting hurt,” says Wei Zhang, a chemistry professor at the university and the co-author of the study. ”E-skin can basically mimic those [preventative] functions. At least that’s one big part of the electronic skin.”

Should robots ever have to handle babies in some capacity, they would find the e-skin immensely helpful, as it would allow them to feel out the appropriate pressure and temperature. “Sensing is critical because when human beings interact with robots, we want to make sure that robots don’t hurt people,” Xiao explains. “When the baby is sick, the robot can just use a finger to touch the surface. [Then] it can tell what the temperature of the baby is.”

He adds: “I think we are the first group to demonstrate recycling of such multifunctional e-skin.” To recycle the skin, it must be soaked in recycling solution, which causes the polymers to degrade into smaller molecules like oligomers and monomers. “The recycled solution and nanoparticles can then be used to make new, functional e-skin. What drives us to make such devices to be recyclable is because, nowadays, we are facing very serious environmental pollution due to tens of millions of tons of electronic waste.”

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Most fridges are horribly inefficient, leaking loads of cold air every time you open them – particularly old refrigerator-and-freezer combinations with a single unified door. Not only is this design concept worlds less wasteful by comparison, but it maintains the classic all-in-one-space approach without sacrificing the ideal temperature of anything it contains.

Surface tension holds each piece of meat or produce suspended in place, but lets you access the products through a self-parting, non-sticking ‘smart surface’ the folds away as needed (all the while deflecting UV and other food-harming rays).

The design draws heat energy from the surrounding air, and converts it to cool what is contained within. Since the gel expands as it is filled, the fridge takes up relatively little space when not packed full and ‘shrinks’ against the wall instead.

Nanotechnology is at the heart of how the design works, with microscopic robots identifying the necessary temperatures for each item being stored and adjusting local heat and cold accordingly. Sound far-fetched? Try going back and time and telling people with old-fashioned ice boxes about refrigerators!

The design by Yuriy Dmitriev was chosen as one of eight Electrolux Design Lab finalists in 2010.

From Electrolux:

“Four times smaller than a conventional refrigerator, the Bio Robot cools biopolymer gel through luminescence. Rather than shelves, the non sticky, odourless gel morphs around products to create a separate pod that suspends items for easy access. Without doors, draws and a motor 90% of the appliance is solely given over to its intended purpose. At the same time, all food, drink and cooled products are readily available, odours are contained, and items are kept individually at their optimal temperature by bio robots. The fridge is adaptable – it can be hung vertically, horizontally, and even on the ceiling. Different sizes and dimensions allow it to perfectly fit the accordant dwelling.”

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Nanoscience is proceeding at an unnerving pace, revealing nanomaterials and nanoscience discoveries thought to be futuristic, far-fetched or even science fiction-worthy mere decades ago – but what about daily-life applications, turning these incredible innovations to the needs of an everyday home?

Michael Harboun has conceived of a “Living Kitchen” that animates unlike even the most forward-thinking sci-fi film, using nanobots that can shape themselves along programmed paths to become dynamic kitchen fixtures that flex out and fold right back into the wall as needed.

First a faucet appears, followed by a sink with a basin that stretches as the water hits the surface, and completed by a drain that emerges below to return waste to the hidden recesses of this amazing nanowall.

It is a bit like a real-life touchscreen in three dimensions – perhaps the iPad and other computer technologies are merely the 2D precursors to this kind of interactive 3D design, which might become the single greatest space-saving gadgetry since the hide-a-bed.

“In Pittsburg, a group of computer scientists at Carnegie Mellon University are developing what they coined ‘claytronics’. It is a programmable matter that holds the potential of revolutionizing our relationship with objects and architecture. Tiny intelligent robots, the size of a human hair, use electrostatics to stick together, communicate, and change their position in space. By introducing programming into these robots, or ‘catoms’ — short for claytronic atoms — they’re able to form new shapes by reacting to external stimuli, like a blob of Play-Doh with a soul.”

“If any object can transform into any other object, this establishes a radically new status quo on how we manipulate the world around us. Objects would no longer dictate a function by the way they’re shaped. Instead, their shapes would adapt depending on what we need. This will bring a whole new set of opportunities for a hybrid generation of industrial/interaction designers, who will have to consider an object’s constant dynamicity and relationship to context.”

“With Living Kitchen I wanted to explore how people would interact within this environment. The matter being reactive to external stimuli, people could make faucets, sinks, or cutting-boards appear just by tapping the surface. The volumes could be stretched, twisted, and bend by users to match their needs. Users could even download shapes from crowdsourced libraries.”

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