Imagine how awesome – or distracting – it would be if human skin lit up every time something pushed on it. Pulsing arteries, mosquitoes, a rude shoulder-check on the sidewalk, or scratching an itch would transform a person into a blinking light show.

Now, scientists at the University of California, Berkeley have designed an electronic skin that does actually does this: Super-thin and flexible, the skin lights up when touched. More pressure produces a brighter light, the team reports July 21 in Nature Materials.

Thinner than a sheet of paper, the skin is made from layers of plastic and a pressure-sensitive rubber. A conductive silver ink, organic LEDs, and thin-film transistors made from semiconductor-enriched carbon nanotubes are sandwiched between the layers. Applying pressure sends a signal through the rubber that ultimately turns on the LEDs, which light up in red, green, yellow or blue.

Instead of using the material to create bodysuits for Burning Man or other illuminated party tricks, scientists suggest that it might be used for smart wallpapers, health-monitoring devices, or in robotics. The type of interactive pressure sensor developed by the Berkeley scientists could also be useful in artificial skin for prosthetic limbs. For years, scientists have been working on developing systems and materials that could be integrated into a functioning, stimulus-responsive skin – something that can sense temperature, pressure, and stretch, and can heal itself. In addition, such a sheath might one day transform an ordinary robot into an interactive machine that's capable of responding to tiny changes in its environment.

If and when that day comes, we will welcome our touchy-feely glow-bot overlords.

Video: Chuan Wang and Ali Javey, UC Berkeley/YouTube