A new type of artificial skin can change its texture and color on demand, mimicking the camouflage tricks of cuttlefish and other sea creatures, which could lead to advanced displays or even robotic disguises.
Researchers developed the flexible polymer films to achieve this dynamic control, drawing inspiration from how cephalopods rapidly alter their skin for hiding or signaling. The films, made from a material called PEDOT:PSS, are patterned using electron beams to vary how much they swell when exposed to certain liquids. In one solvent, like isopropyl alcohol, the surface stays flat and plain. Switch to water, and it transforms into complex 3D textures or vibrant color patterns.
“This allows them to control interactions with their physical environment for camouflage and signalling,” the researchers note in their study, highlighting the natural ability they’re emulating. “The ability to hide and show information on demand could lead to applications ranging from encryption to camouflage.”
The team demonstrated how these films can encode hidden designs that only appear when swollen. For instance, they created a tiny replica of the rock face El Capitan, invisible in one liquid but rising up in another to form a detailed landscape just hundreds of nanometers high. At larger scales, the surfaces can shift from smooth to wavy, creating visible ripples that catch the light differently and give the illusion of texture.
By sandwiching the polymer between thin metal layers, they formed optical cavities that produce colors through light interference, similar to the iridescent sheen on soap bubbles. These can be tuned with fluid mixtures to blend into various backgrounds, accessing multiple appearance states.
To push further, the scientists built multilayer devices where texture and color can be controlled separately—one side for bumpy surfaces, the other for hues — allowing combinations like a colorful flat state or a textured monochrome one. “By providing a means to actively modulate texture and colour simultaneously, we enable new approaches to dynamic camouflage, along with other applications that may benefit from access to a myriad of complex visual appearance states,” they add.
Citations
S. Doshi et al. Soft photonic skins with dynamic texture and colour control. Nature. Published online January 7, 2026. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09948-2
