Engineers from England have created a hand with fingertips that allow you to feel objects when touched. This is made possible by 3D printing.

Researchers have developed a hand and an artificial fingertip for this. Thanks to this fingertip, you can feel the objects when you touch them. This is similar to how a person feels when they touch objects. In other words, the created device can reproduce nerve signals similar to the signals of “tactile neurons” in humans. All data obtained during the study were published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.

The fingertip was printed using a 3D printer. Tactile (tactile sensation) was reproduced by specialists thanks to a grid of small nipples. They are similar to the dermal papilla found in human skin.

Experts have found that fingertip experiments can produce nerve signals similar to recording human signals. Faux leather can feel the ribbed surface, as revealed during testing. But in some small details the nib was not so precise. Scientists believe this is due to the fact that the printed (artificial) leather is thicker than real leather.