Soft giant magnetoimpedance electronics enable contact-free human–machine interactions
- Yizhang Wu
- Sicheng Xing
- Dingyi Yang
- Yihan Liu
- Chi Ding
- Zifeng Li
- Qizhang Jiao
- Anran Zhang
- Ziheng Guo
- Siyuan Liu
- Wei Luo
- Gongkai Yuan
- Meixiang Wang
- Yong Wang
- Michael D. Dickey
- Wubin Bai
2026-01-20
Magnetic sensing enables contact-free, three-dimensional human–machine interactions (HMI) with high selectivity and resilience to environmental noise. However, conventional magnetic films, mostly obtained via vacuum deposition, remain constrained by rigidity, instantaneous response, and single-mode. Here, we report a giant magnetoimpedance ionogel (GelGMI) in which electrostatically self-assembled ferromagnetic (FM) domains are uniformly dispersed in a soft ionogel matrix. Under a magnetic field, domain moments realign to reconfigure ionic pathways, yielding pronounced magnetoimpedance while maintaining performance at >1,000% strain and across orientations. The hysteretic relaxation of domain magnetization imparts retrospective neuron-like temporal summation, realizing sequence- and context-aware interaction. In addition, the self-healable matrix supports a complementary tactile mode whose impedance contrasts with contact-free magnetic proximity, enabling expandable and bimodal recognition. GelGMI delivers a record-high sensitivity while unifying stretchable, neuromorphic, and healable capabilities for contact-free HMI systems.