Unlike other touch sensors we previously wrote about, a University of Tokyo spin-off company Touchence has designed ShokacCube – the world’s first soft and flexible touch sensor capable to detect changes in 3D. The technology could aid in robotics and present a major breakthrough in bionics where it could be used for better feedback and… »

Lightning-fast connections between robotic limbs and the human brain may be within reach for amputees. Funded by a Department of Defense initiative dedicated to audacious challenges and intense time schedules, the SMU engineers from Neurophotonics Research Center will develop two-way fiber optic communication between prosthetic limbs and peripheral nerves. Successful completion of the fiber optic… »

By installing a pair of optical sensors on the back of a mobile phone or mp3 player, the researchers at Carnegie Mellon University found that the entire device could have many of the same benefits as that of a computer mouse when the device was placed against a surface, a piece of clothing or the… »