This prototype glove includes soft sensors capable of registering movement of each finger individually. (Wyss Institute at Harvard University)

A highly sensitive, soft, capacitive sensor made of silicone and fabric that moves and flexes with the human body can unobtrusively and accurately detect movement. The technology consists of a thin sheet of silicone sandwiched between two layers of silver-plated, conductive fabric forming a capacitive sensor that registers movement by measuring the change in capacitance.

To test the sensors in a real-world scenario, a set of the sensors was integrated into a glove to measure fine-motor hand and finger movements in real time. The sensors were successfully able to detect capacitance changes on individual fingers as they moved, indicating their relative positions over time.

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