Stretchis: Fabricating Highly Stretchable User Interfaces

Recent advances in materials science research allow production of highly stretchable sensors and displays. Such technologies, however, are still not accessible to non-expert makers. We present a novel and inexpensive fabrication method for creating Stretchis, highly stretchable user interfaces that combine sensing capabilities and visual output. We use Polydimethylsiloxan (PDMS) as the base material for a Stretchi and show how to embed stretchable touch and proximity sensors and stretchable electroluminescent displays. Stretchis can be ultra-thin (≈ 200μm), flexible, and fully customizable, enabling non-expert makers to add interaction to elastic physical objects, shape-changing surfaces, fabrics, and the human body. We demonstrate the usefulness of our approach with three application examples that range from ubiquitous computing to wearables and on-skin interaction.

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