Electronic-skin compasses for geomagnetic field-driven artificial magnetoreception and interactive electronics

Magnetoreception is the ability to detect and respond to magnetic fields that allows certain organisms to orientate themselves with respect to the Earth’s magnetic field for navigation purposes. The development of an artificial magnetoreception, which is based solely on an interaction with geomagnetic fields and can be used by humans, has, however, proved challenging. Here we report a compliant and mechanically robust electronic-skin compass system that allows a person to orient with respect to Earth’s magnetic field. The compass is fabricated on 6-μm-thick polymeric foils and accommodates magnetic field sensors based on the anisotropic magnetoresistance effect. The response of the sensor is tailored to be linear and, by arranging the sensors in a Wheatstone bridge configuration, a maximum sensitivity around the Earth’s magnetic field is achieved. Our approach can also be used to create interactive devices for virtual and augmented-reality applications, and we illustrate the potential of this by using our electronic-skin compass in the touchless control of virtual units in a game engine. Magnetic field sensors, which are based on the anisotropic magnetoresistance effect and arranged in a Wheatstone bridge configuration, can provide an artificial magnetoreception that allows a person to orientate in an outdoor setting and manipulate objects in virtual reality.