The human fingertip can sense single atom substitutions in a surface

The human fingertip can not only perceive subtle differences as small as single atom changes in silane monolayers, but can also detect differences in a polymer’s crystallinity. The research out of the University of Delaware was presented at the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) spring conference held virtually and in-person in San Diego, US.

These discoveries could help recreate human tactile sense in a way that has applications for areas like virtual reality (VR), human machine interfaces, soft robotics and rehabilitation following an accident.