An ultrathin conformable vibration-responsive electronic skin for quantitative vocal recognition

Nat Commun. 2019 Jun 18;10(1):2468. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-10465-w.

Abstract

Flexible and skin-attachable vibration sensors have been studied for use as wearable voice-recognition electronics. However, the development of vibration sensors to recognize the human voice accurately with a flat frequency response, a high sensitivity, and a flexible/conformable form factor has proved a major challenge. Here, we present an ultrathin, conformable, and vibration-responsive electronic skin that detects skin acceleration, which is highly and linearly correlated with voice pressure. This device consists of a crosslinked ultrathin polymer film and a hole-patterned diaphragm structure, and senses voices quantitatively with an outstanding sensitivity of 5.5 V Pa-1 over the voice frequency range. Moreover, this ultrathin device (<5 μm) exhibits superior skin conformity, which enables exact voice recognition because it eliminates vibrational distortion on rough and curved skin surfaces. Our device is suitable for several promising voice-recognition applications, such as security authentication, remote control systems and vocal healthcare.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Equipment Design
  • Humans
  • Neck
  • Polymers
  • Pressure
  • Skin
  • Vibration*
  • Voice*
  • Wearable Electronic Devices*

Substances

  • Polymers