Japanese scientists have developed an ultra-thin “e-skin” — a thin-film electronic display that is far thinner than the skin our bodies produce.

This e-skin could be laminated onto a person’s skin, and the wearer wouldn’t even notice the incredibly flexible “skin,” according to a University of Tokyo statement.

The e-skin could have electronic components that could monitor your health, allowing you to walk around with an invisible outer skin that monitored your blood or other vitals at all times, providing important medical data. It could also be used in inudstrial applications.

The e-skin would have polymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDs) that display the colors red, green and blue, has well as organic photo detectors to measure light and provide electronic functions. The skin would be just 3 microns thick.

Researchers used transparent indium tin oxide electrodes to wire the e-skin display.

“The advent of mobile phones has changed the way we communicate. While these communication tools are getting smaller and smaller, they are still discrete devices that we have to carry with us,” Professor Takao Someya said in the statement. “What would the world be like if we had displays that could adhere to our bodies and even show our emotions or level of stress or unease? In addition to not having to carry a device with us at all times, they might enhance the way we interact with those around us or add a whole new dimension to how we communicate.”

The statement adds: “Integrating electronic devices with the human body to enhance or restore body function for biomedical applications is the goal of researchers around the world. In particular, wearable electronics need to be thin and flexible to minimize impact where they attach to the body. However, most devices developed so far have required millimeter-scale thickness glass or plastic substrates with limited flexibility, while micrometer-scale thin flexible organic devices have not been stable enough to survive in air.”