Transparent and Stretchable Interactive Human Machine Interface Based on Patterned Graphene Heterostructures

TLDR

An interactive human‑machine interface (iHMI) enables humans to control hardware and receive feedback, and wearable iHMI systems are increasingly sought for mobile electronics and the Internet of Things, but rigid electronics limit wearability, comfort, signal‑to‑noise ratio, and aesthetics. This work reports the fabrication of a transparent and stretchable iHMI system comprising wearable mechanical sensors and stimulators. The system employs conductive/piezoelectric graphene heterostructures made of poly(l‑lactic acid), single‑walled carbon nanotubes, and silver nanowires, providing high transparency, excellent performance, low power consumption, and mechanical deformability. The ultrathin, lightweight design delivers superior wearability and high SNR, and the system successfully controls a robot arm for various motions while providing feedback stimulation upon command execution.

Abstract

An interactive human‐machine interface (iHMI) enables humans to control hardware and collect feedback information. In particular, wearable iHMI systems have attracted tremendous attention owing to their potential for use in personal mobile electronics and the Internet of Things. Although significant progress has been made in the development of iHMI systems, those based on rigid electronics have constraints in terms of wearability, comfortability, signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR), and aesthetics. Herein the fabrication of a transparent and stretchable iHMI system composed of wearable mechanical sensors and stimulators is reported. The ultrathin and lightweight design of the system allows superior wearability and high SNR. The use of conductive/piezoelectric graphene heterostructures, which consist of poly( l ‐lactic acid), single‐walled carbon nanotubes, and silver nanowires, results in high transparency, excellent performance, and low power consumption as well as mechanical deformability. The control of a robot arm for various motions and the feedback stimulation upon successful executions of commands are demonstrated using the wearable iHMI system.