Advances in magnetic materials and sensors for tactile perception

In recent years, significant progress has been made in intelligent robotics and human–machine interaction. As a critical enabling technology, tactile sensing plays a pivotal role in facilitating more natural interactions and dexterous manipulation in these emerging fields, presenting both unprecedented opportunities and challenges. Magnetic tactile sensors emerge as strong contenders in tactile sensing technologies, offering distinct advantages such as high sensitivity, superior spatial resolution, robust endurance, and multidirectional force detection capabilities. This review summarizes the recent advances in magnetic materials and sensors for tactile sensing applications. The design strategies of magneto-elastomers and development trends of magnetic sensors for tactile perception are highlighted. In addition, the implementation of magnetic tactile sensors across various fields, such as robotics, human-machine interfaces, and healthcare are presented. Finally, we delve into the technical challenges of magnetic tactile sensors and put forward some future perspectives.