This electronic, stretchable device can be used on the skin as an electronic touchpad. You could make it into a calculator or even part of a cell phone.
Nokia has been working with researchers at the University of Cambridge to make this a reality.
Science fiction writers have been to this future already, of course. Fans of John Varley may recall the input device that goes with readout skin from his 1992 novel Steel Beach:
Call me old-fashioned. I'm the only reporter I know who still uses his handwriter except to take notes…I snapped the fingers of my left hand… Three rows of four colored dots appeared on the heel of my left hand. By pressing the dots in different combinations with my fingertips I was able to write the story in shorthand
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LLM 'Cognitive Core' Now Evolving
'Their only check on the growth and development of Vulcan 3 lay in two clues: the amount of rock thrown up to the surface... and the amount of the raw materials and tools and parts which the computer requested.'