MIT builds soft wearable sheet that senses its own 3D shape

The sensor stays soft and reconstructs shape with under half a centimetre of error, but its fibres are still too thick for clothing.

MIT researchers have built a soft, wearable sheet that senses its own 3D shape using optical fibers, a design that could be useful for VR controllers, game input, teleoperation, and physical therapy tools. In lab tests, the system’s reconstruction error stayed below half a centimeter, and the team says it performs about as well as existing rigid-sensor approaches while remaining fully soft. The prototype uses 14 waveguides embedded in a 16 x 16 x 0.5 cm silicone sheet, with directional sensing enabled by a flexible rubber core and a roughened side that changes light loss depending on how the fiber bends. The paper in Advanced Intelligent Systems also reports that the layout is resilient to damage, with simulations showing under 0.3 cm error when up to three of the 14 waveguides were disabled, though the current fibers are still too thick for ideal clothing. The researchers now want thinner fibers and faster reconstruction so the system can scale toward garments and more practical soft interfaces.