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The epidermal electronic system is an electronic patch that adheres to the skin using the Van der Waals force (Kim, Epidermal 838). The Van der Waals force allows the patch to adhere to the skin without the use of any external bonding agents. The use of the Van der Waals force allows this technology to “blurs the distinction between electronics and biology” (Koshy). One of the scientist on the team developing this technology is John Rogers, a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Yong). When interviewed about the EES, John Rogers stated the primary goal of this technology “was to develop an electronic technology that could integrate with the skin in a way that is mechanically and physiologically invisible to the user” (Koshy).
The epidermal electronic system has been developed with a variety of different capabilities. The current medical uses for the EES are to monitor heart, brain and muscle activity (Ma). The expectations for this technology are to replace bulky electrodes in monitoring patients both inside and outside of the hospital (Kim Electronic). The epidermal electronic system would not require any machines to supply them with energy and would allow easy use outside of the hospital. The EES has also been tested with voice recognition software and was able to register vocal commands with over 90% accuracy (Koshy). Along with medical and gaming uses, this technology could be used in spying. The technology has the ability to monitor heart rate which would give interrogators information about whether or not a person is lying, while being investigated.